Putting recent rumours to rest

Hun Sen allays US fears of Beijing’s presence close to disputed waters

Cambodian PM Hun Sen says no China naval base is being built in his country.

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia will not allow foreign military bases on its soil, strongman premier Hun Sen said, swatting away US concerns about a possible Chinese naval site near hotly contested seas.

China has lavished billions of dollars in soft loans, infrastructure and investment on the poor South-East Asian kingdom, providing Prime Minister Hun Sen with a fast-growing economy that he wields as justification for his 33-year authoritarian rule.

In exchange, Cambodia has been a staunch China ally.

It has seeded disunity among the 10-member Asean bloc of SouthEast Asian nations over a diplomat- ic pushback to Beijing’s aggression in the strategically pivotal South China Sea.

Rumours that a Chinese naval base is under construction off Cambodia’s southwest coast have been swirling. The area under scrutiny is in the Gulf of Thailand, but gives ready access to the South China Sea.

Beijing claims most of the area, infuriating the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan who all have competing claims to its islands and potentially resource-rich waters.

But in comments during a Cabinet meeting yesterday broadcast on Facebook Live, Hun Sen denied that any military bases had or would be built on Cambodian territory.

“I have received a letter from Mike Pence, the US Vice-President, regarding concerns that there will be a China naval base in Cambodia.

“The constitution of Cambodia bans the presence of foreign troops or military bases in its territory ... whether naval forces, infantry forces or air forces,” he said.

The United States, once the region’s undisputed military power, is acutely aware of the strategic and trading importance of the South China Sea and insists that it remain international waters.

US, Australian and British warships have increasingly conducted “freedom of navigation” operations through the sea to press that point.

Hun Sen dismissed reports of a Chinese base as “information that only tries to manipulate the truth”.

“I will reply to the letter from Pence to make him understand the issue clearly,” he added.

Chinese-bankrolled casinos, developments and dams have mushroomed in recent years, fanning growth but incubating resentment among some Cambodians, who fear that the country is increasingly in the pocket of the regional superpower.

Joint military exercises have also taken place while in June, Beijing promised US$100mil (RM418mil) to modernise Cambodia’s military.

“China and Cambodia are friendly neighbours ... co-operation bet- ween the two sides is open and transparent,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a press briefing in Beijing.

China has established military positions on disputed outcrops in the South China Sea and intimidates fishermen and naval vessels from rival countries.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang last week sought to soothe anxieties, backing a rule book on behaviour in contested waters to be finished in three years.

Critics have countered that China has deliberately spent years negotiating the rulebook with South-East Asian neighbours to buy time to build up its military bases.