China Foreign Relations Thailand

Thailand's Prime Minister Chatchai Choonhavan urged stepped-up efforts to stem the flow of Chinese arms to the Khmer Rouge guerrillas and bring a cease-fire to Cambodia's bloody civil war. Chatchai, whose country has emerged as a key mediator in the conflict, had two hours of talks with President Bush at the White House. Bush pledged to "continue our diplomatic efforts to end the violence. . . . "

Long wary of domination by Communist China, Thailand has always been careful not to provoke its giant neighbor. In 1987 and 1990, it even denied visas to the Dalai Lama, a vocal critic of China's rule over Tibet. So when Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai decided last February to allow the Tibetan leader into the country to attend a gathering of Nobel Prize laureates here, it marked a turning point in Sino-Thai relations.

Long wary of domination by Communist China, Thailand has always been careful not to provoke its giant neighbor. In 1987 and 1990, it even denied visas to the Dalai Lama, a vocal critic of China's rule over Tibet. So when Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai decided last February to allow the Tibetan leader into the country to attend a gathering of Nobel Prize laureates here, it marked a turning point in Sino-Thai relations.

Thailand's Prime Minister Chatchai Choonhavan urged stepped-up efforts to stem the flow of Chinese arms to the Khmer Rouge guerrillas and bring a cease-fire to Cambodia's bloody civil war. Chatchai, whose country has emerged as a key mediator in the conflict, had two hours of talks with President Bush at the White House. Bush pledged to "continue our diplomatic efforts to end the violence. . . . "