Cambodia and Beijing have denied a report that they are building a secret naval facility for the Chinese fleet, as Australia’s new prime minister has expressed concern over the project and called for transparency.
The Washington Post, citing unnamed Western officials, said a new facility was being built at Cambodia’s Ream base, strategically located in the Gulf of Thailand, for “exclusive” use by the Chinese navy.
The base has been a bad spot in U.S.-Cambodia relations for years, and Washington has long suspected it was becoming used to China as it seeks to bolster its international influence with a network. of advanced military posts.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn dismissed the report as “baseless allegations” in a call with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, according to a statement released by Phnom Penh on Tuesday.
Earlier, a spokesman had said the development of the base “was no secret”. “Cambodia will not allow the Chinese military to use it exclusively or to develop the site as a military base,” government spokesman Phay Siphan told Agence France-Presse.
Cambodia’s defense minister and Chinese ambassador will attend a ceremony to open new facilities in Ream on Wednesday, including a boat repair shop and a dock.
Location of Ream Naval Base
But the new Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in Indonesia for a visit to strengthen diplomatic ties against China’s growing assertiveness in the region, called the reports “benchmarks”.
“We encourage Beijing to be transparent about its intention and to ensure that its activities support regional security and stability,” he said, adding that Cambodia had assured Canberra that no foreign military would have exclusive access to the country. Ream base.
Australia has become increasingly concerned about Beijing’s growing influence in the Pacific region.
A leaked draft of a pact between the Solomon Islands and China in April raised concerns that it would allow Chinese naval deployments to the Pacific island nation, less than 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Australia.
Cambodian warships are docked at Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Photography: Heng Sinith / AP
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly insisted that work on Ream is nothing more than modernizing the base with a new boat maintenance facility developed with Chinese aid. “Cambodia does not need the presence of a foreign military on its territory,” he said in a speech in May.
China also denied that the base was exclusively for its navy. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday: “The transformation of Ream Naval Base is only to strengthen the capabilities of Cambodian naval forces to maintain maritime territorial sovereignty and crack down on crime. maritime “.
He added that Washington’s criticism was “malicious conjecture to attack and defame” Cambodia.
Concerns about the base date back to 2019, when the Wall Street Journal reported on a draft secret agreement that allowed Beijing to dock warships there.
Since then, Cambodia has dismantled the base’s facilities, which were built in part with U.S. money and housed U.S. drills.