Hun Sen, Banh refute secret Chinese deal over naval base
PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Monday dismissed a Wall Street Journal report that Cambodia had signed a secret agreement allowing the Chinese military to use the Kingdom’s Ream Naval Base as “fabricated news”.
Minister of National Defence Tea Banh also rejected the claims, calling the allegations “fake”.
“No such thing has happened
because hosting a foreign military base is against the Cambodian Constitution. Why would Cambodia need to have a Chinese military presence in its territory?
“We have never discussed anything like this with China’s leaders. We have especially not signed any such agreement. It is time to stop using fabricated news about the presence of the Chinese military in Cambodia against us,” Hun Sen told Fresh News.
The Wall Street Journal article was published after the US House of Representatives last week approved the Cambodia Democracy Act of 2019.
If signed off by US President Donald Trump, the bill would allow sanctions to be taken against highranking Cambodian officials that the US sees as responsible for undermining democracy and violating human rights in the Kingdom.
On Monday, Banh said he was not surprised at the renewed allegations of a Chinese naval base in Cambodia, calling them fake.
“This is a pretext to make Cambodia look bad and then be able to impose sanctions. This is the truth and I am not exaggerating. Please everyone monitor [what happens next],” he said.
The Wall Street Journal published a report on Sunday based on US officials saying Cambodia and China had signed a secret agreement allowing the Chinese military to use Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base as Beijing pushes ahead with a plan to have its military stationed around the world.
The report said the agreement was secretly signed in spring and gives China an exclusive right to use the Ream base located in the Gulf of Thailand, not far from a large airport under construction by a
Chinese company.
US embassy in Cambodia spokesperson Emily Zeeberg told The Post on Monday that the embassy is monitoring media reports of a secret agreement detailing a military alliance between China and Cambodia.
“We are concerned that any steps by the Cambodian government to invite a foreign military presence in Cambodia would threaten the coherence and centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [Asean] in coordinating regional developments and disturb peace and stability in Southeast Asia.
“We urge Cambodia’s leadership to honour its const it ut iona l commitment to its people to pursue an independent foreign policy, and to protect Cambodia’s independence and sovereignt y for f uture generations,” Zeeberg told The Post.
She did not conf i r m i f Michea l Newbill, t he charge d’af faires of t he US embassy in Cambodia, had v isited a port being built in Koh Kong. She a lso declined to comment on whet her he had assessed t he port and if it was milita rised.
It was put to her t hat t he Wall St re et Jour nal a nd Reuter s had reported that the source of the stor y were US of f icia ls, but she did not comment on t he reliabi lit y of t he sources.
Pol it ica l a na lyst Lao Mong Hay said t he government should build stronger ties with t he US to stave off accusat ions of bei ng too close to China.
“The government should show transparency regarding Cambodian neutrality by furthering ties in a balanced manner with [other] countries, especially superpowers China and the US. Military relations should be built with the US, allowing it to provide assistance in building the Ream base.
“Otherwise the suspicion remains of a relat ionsh ip w it h Chi na i n which China’s assistance has conditions attached for t he Kingdom to not have relations wit h t he US. This could see Cambodia lose its sovereignt y and t his is not good for t he Kingdom.”
However, Kin Phea, the director of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, sa id he was scept ica l of t he Wall Street Journal report.
“In the Middle East fa ke news has been used to deceive the public and internationa l community, allow ing action to be taken to topple a regiona l leader.
“The situation is being stirred up to make the international community suspicious of Cambodia and to damage its relations with other countries. In short, it is an attempt to tarnish Cambodia’s reputation.”