The ground-breaking ceremony held in Cambodia this week to mark the expansion of Ream Naval Base shows that despite Phnom Penh’s denial, it has become a ‘pawn’ in Beijing’s geopolitical ambitions.
Cambodian defense minister Tea Banh and Chinese ambassador Wang Wentian along with other dignitaries were present and the former dismissed speculations that the Chinese military would use the site, Nikkei Asia reported.
On paper the expansion of the Ream Naval Base entails constructing new buildings, a hospital and a pier that can accommodate two vessels.
A dry dock and slipway along with a repair workshop will also be constructed and training will be provided to Cambodians by Chinese workers in ship repairing.
However, the Washington Post earlier reported that Chinese military officials will base themselves on the northern portion of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand. The ground-breaking ceremony was held at the southern side.
This is China’s second-such naval facility (first one was in Djibouti) and plans to build many more to realize its dreams of becoming a global superpower. This will also strengthen its plans to establish its sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
The report further added that scientists would use the facility to host a ground station for the Chinese Beidou navigation satellite system.
Suspicions were raised further when US officials said that visits from the US embassy to the Ream Naval Base were ‘very heavily circumscribed’ and were limited to so-called ‘pre-approved locations’.
There were also objections from the US after Cambodia razed two US-funded facilities on Ream Naval Base.
When Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited Cambodia in 2021 and sought answers she found none, leaving the Pentagon to arrive at the conclusion that China may have helped in their renovation. The US offered to renovate them but Cambodia rejected the offer.
It is no secret that substantial aid and investment from Beijing is directed towards Cambodia and Hun Sen, prime minister since 1985, is close to China, publicly praising it on several forums.
The expansion has led to worries in the newly-elected Australian cabinet with prime minister Anthony Albanese expressing his concern during his trip to Indonesia. “We’ve been aware of Beijing’s activity at Ream for some time. We encourage Beijing to be transparent about its intent and to ensure that its activities support regional security and stability,” Albanese was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.
However, the US is still to respond even though US president Joe Biden’s ambitions for a free and open Indo-Pacific has been dealt a heavy blow.
(with inputs from The Washington Post, Nikkei Asia and The Sydney Morning Herald)
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