On May 19, two Chinese warships docked in Cambodia as part of the largest joint military drills with the South-east Asian nation, with Beijing’s ambassador lauding their “ironclad” friendship.
“We are ironclad friends,” Chinese Ambassador Wang Wentian declared to the media.
“Where the Chinese navy goes, we bring friendship, we bring cooperation, no others,” Wang said in response to a question on worries over Beijing’s rising clout.
Furthermore, China-Cambodia military cooperation was “conducive to the security of both countries and to the security of the region,” Wang elaborated.
The two warships, training ship Qijiguang and amphibious warfare ship Jinggangshan, docked at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port as part of 15 days of land and sea military exercises involving 760 Chinese military personnel along with around 1,300 Cambodians and 11 Cambodian vessels. Chinese officers and crew from the two vessels paid a courtesy call on Cambodian navy leaders, visited military sites and participated in exchanges with Cambodian partners.
Chinese media China Military Online denied that the two Chinese ships were to participate in the Golden Dragon exercise (from May 16 to 30) that took place in Kampong Chhnang and Sihanoukville provinces involving Cambodian and Chinese forces. The May 23 report blamed the U.S.-led Western media of deliberately tying it to the Golden Dragon 2024 joint exercise and to hype up the topic of China’s establishment of a military base in Ream Naval Base.
According to Radio Free Asia, three other Chinese vessels, including two corvettes and a landing dock, were already involved in the exercise – the sixth iteration of the yearly bilateral wargames and the largest thus far. The two corvettes have been based at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base for six months.
When questioned, Cambodian Defense Ministry’s spokesperson Gen. Chhum Socheat told the Associated Press the Chinese warships were involved in training Cambodian sailors, and also used to test the new pier as the government is considering to purchase similar warship for the navy. Reportedly, two Japanese destroyers which made a port call in February were diverted to a different port, and that Cambodia’s own vessels were using another older, smaller pier to the south.
According to China Military Online, China’s presence at the Ream Naval Base was to help the Royal Cambodian Navy to enhance their capabilities to safeguard maritime territorial integrity and combat crimes at sea. The report added that it is legitimate for China to provide assistance to the upgrading project of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, which was originally built partially with U.S. funding.
Strategically, the Ream Naval Base lies at a vital position on the Gulf of Thailand near the contested South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety, and also offers easy access to the Malacca Straits, a key shipping lane.
Concerns over the Ream Naval Base initially broke out in 2019 when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of a prominent deal seen by U.S. officials would enable China to have a three-decade use of the base, where it would be able to deploy military personnel, store weapons and berth warships.
Paul Chambers, lecturer, Center of ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University in Thailand, was quoted by Radio Free Asia as saying that the level of Chinese-Cambodian military relations was “unprecedented”.
“And then there is a Chinese tourism resort in western Cambodia, which could be easily converted into a Chinese military airfield,” Chambers said, alluding to the Dara Sakor resort in Koh Kong province.
“It appears that Cambodia has become a military and economic dependency of China,” he said.
The large number of Chinese vessels this time was not “a game changer but a sign of ever-closer China-Cambodia cooperation given China’s new base there,” said Tom Shugart, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.
Meanwhile, Cambodia’s defense ministry hailed joint activities with China for boosting its military’s capabilities and combat skills, Radio Free Asia reported. Also, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s mouthpiece Global Times ran an article saying that the Philippines, a rival claimant in the South China Sea whose ties with China had deteriorated in the past months, “should learn from Cambodia and make joint efforts in safeguarding regional peace and stability with China” instead of “acting as a U.S. pawn”.
Photo credit: iStock/ HUNG CHIN LIU
