Cambodia and Beijing have rejected a report that they are building a secret naval facility for the Chinese navy, as Australia’s new prime minister has expressed concern about the project and called for transparency.
The Washington Post, citing unnamed Western officials, said a new facility at the Ream base in Cambodia – strategically located in the Gulf of Thailand – is being built for the “exclusive” use of the Chinese navy.
The base has been a sore spot in U.S.-Cambodia relations for years, with Washington long suspecting it is being converted for use by China as it seeks to support its international influence with a network of military outposts.
Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sohon dismissed the report as “baseless accusations” in talks with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, according to a statement issued late Tuesday by Phnom Penh.
Earlier, a spokesman said the development of the base “is no secret.” “Cambodia will not allow the Chinese military to use it exclusively or to develop the site as its military base,” government spokesman Fay Sifan told Agence France-Presse.
Cambodia’s defense minister and China’s ambassador will attend the opening ceremony of new facilities at Ream on Wednesday, including a boat repair service and pier.
Location of the Ream Naval Base
But Australia’s new prime minister, Anthony Olbanese, who visited Indonesia to support diplomatic ties against China’s growing self-confidence in the region, called the reports “concerned”.
“We encourage Beijing to be transparent about its intentions and to ensure that its activities support regional security and stability,” he said, adding that Cambodia had assured Canberra that no foreign army would be given exclusive access to the Ream base.
Australia is increasingly concerned about Beijing’s growing influence in the Pacific.
An expired draft pact between the Solomon Islands and China in April raised fears that it would allow the deployment of Chinese naval forces in the Pacific island nation, less than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Australia.
Cambodian warships docked at Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Photo: Heng Sinith / AP
Cambodian Prime Minister Hong Sen has repeatedly insisted that the work in Ream is nothing more than modernizing the base with a new boat-maintenance facility developed with Chinese help. “Cambodia does not need the presence of foreign troops on its territory,” he said in a speech in May.
China also denied that the base was intended only for their fleet. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday: “The transformation of Ream’s naval base is only to strengthen the capacity of Cambodia’s navy to maintain maritime territorial sovereignty and tackle maritime crime.
He added that Washington’s criticism was “malicious allegations of attack and denigration” of Cambodia.
Concerns about the base date back to 2019, when the Wall Street Journal reported a secret draft deal allowing Beijing to dock warships there.
Since then, Cambodia has dismantled facilities at the base, which were built in part with US money and has hosted US exercises.
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