Port in Cambodia ‘exclusively for PLA’
Two corvettes have spent months at Ream naval base, US think tank says
New questions have been raised about China’s military presence at a Cambodian naval base, after a US think tank reported that two Chinese navy ships had spent over four months at the port.
According to satellite image analysis by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, two corvettes have had a “consistent presence” at the China-funded Ream naval base in southern Cambodia since December 3.
The two ships from the PLA Navy – the only two vessels to have visited the pier since it went into operation – were docked at the facility 93 per cent of the time since they first arrived at the port, or 85 out of 91 days, according to the AMTI, which cited data from available clear satellite imagery.
The pier was vacant for only two brief periods, January 15-18 and March 29-30, the report said.
“Satellite imagery also showed no other ships, including any Cambodian vessels, docking at the new pier, which was completed last year to enable larger warships to dock in Ream’s shallow waters,” the AMTI report said.
“While previous language from then prime minister Hun
Sen had claimed that the base’s upgraded facilities would be open to visits from all navies … Cambodian boats at Ream have continued to cluster at the base’s older, smaller pier to the south.”
Two Japanese destroyers that made a port call in February were also routed to Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, northwest of Ream, the AMTI added.
The report said the Chinese navy’s “extended and exclusive” access to the pier comes after years of concerns over a rumoured secret agreement between Beijing and Phnom Penh to grant a permanent Chinese military presence at Ream, raising the question of “whether that presence has now, in fact, been established”.
Phnom Penh has denied any secret agreement. Hun Sen had said such accusations were part of a “campaign to slander Cambodia by foreigners and politicians”.
The Chinese-financed overhaul of the Ream naval base began in 2022 with the construction of a pier and dry dock at the southern end of the base, while facilities that had been recently built by the United States and Australia were demolished.
In December, the two Chinese navy ships, one of which has been identified as the Chinese Type 056A corvette “Wenshan”, sailed to the naval base to take part in a joint exercise with the Cambodian military, in what was believed to be the first visit by a foreign navy since the upgrade. The other ship was not identified in the report.
In a Facebook post in December, General Tea Seiha, Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and defence minister, said military and diplomatic officials from Cambodia and China had visited a ship docked “at Ream seaport to prepare for training with our Cambodian navy captain and inspected the construction of the infrastructure”.
Washington has raised concerns about the transparency of the port’s intended purpose and the role of the Chinese military, issues that Daniel Kritenbrink, an assistant US secretary of state, raised during his visit to Phnom Penh in February.
“Ultimately, the degree of China’s access to Ream will be borne out over the coming months and years – and will be seen in satellite imagery,” the report said. “At some point, the two corvettes that have been at Ream since December will leave.
“Whether they are replaced with other Chinese ships, how long those ships stay, and whether other navies are afforded the same opportunities will all speak volumes about the true nature of the relationship between China’s navy and Ream.”