Beijing looks to extend foreign control with naval base in Cambodia

CHINA is reportedly building a clandestine naval outpost in Cambodia as part of plans to extend its global power.

Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, on the Gulf of Thailand, will host an area for solely Chinese use, The Washington Post reported.

A ceremony to break ground on the facility was expected to be held later this week, with China’s ambassador to Cambodia potentially present. The base would be China’s first foreign naval base in the Indo-pacific region. It has another foreign naval base in Djibouti.

An official in Beijing told The Washington Post that part of the new base would be used by the “Chinese military”, but denied it was for China’s “exclusive” use.

It would reportedly include equipment for satellite systems, potentially including missile targeting systems.

The Chinese foreign ministry did not comment. A Western official told the newspaper that China “wants to become so powerful that the region will give in to China’s leadership”.

A spokesman for the US’S Cambodian embassy said suggestions of a Chinese outpost were “baseless”, and Cambodia did not allow foreign military bases. They said Ream was being renovated.

There has been increasing Chinese investment and influence in Cambodia in recent years. US officials believe China is also aiming to raise its influence in other countries including Thailand, Indonesia and Pakistan.

That may allow Beijing to “interfere with US military operations, and support offensive operations” against the US, according to the Pentagon.

China has the world’s biggest navy with more than 350 vessels, and is expected to add 100 more by 2030.

The idea that China could set up at Ream was reported in 2019, when it was said to have signed a secret agreement with Cambodia to use the facilities, The Wall Street Journal reported. At the time, Cambodia described it as “fake news”.