Cambodia’s defense ministry stated on Sept. 4 that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is gifting the Cambodian navy with two warships, raising concerns about the CCP’s increased presence in the region.
Nestled between Thailand and Vietnam, Cambodia has strategic access to the Gulf of Thailand and a waterway that acts as a critical shipping route between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Since December 2023, two Chinese Type 56 corvettes—smaller vessels typically used for coastal patrols—have been docked at the Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand, where the CCP is funding the construction for an expansion of the base. The expansion of the strategic base includes a lengthy new pier capable of accommodating large naval vessels that Cambodia does not own.
Cambodian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said the expanded base will soon be completed and that two Type 56 warships will be gifted to Cambodia next year at the earliest.
She would not comment on whether the naval base would belong to China or Cambodia.
Socheata said that Cambodia had requested China’s support in naval training and resources, hence the gift.
Foreign Military Base?
In 2019, The Wall Street Journal first reported that U.S. officials had seen an early draft of an agreement between Cambodia and the CCP that would allow the CCP to use the naval base for 30 years.Cambodian officials have denied that the expansion or long-term presence of Chinese warships means a permanent deployment of the Chinese military in Cambodia. Cambodia’s then-Prime Minister, Hun Sen, said Cambodia’s Constitution did not allow foreign military bases to be established on its soil, and his successor Hun Manet said the same.
In 2022, CCP officials joined in the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ream Naval Port expansion project. Cambodian officials touted the “modernization” of the port while dismissing American concerns that the project would give the CCP a strategic advantage in the area.
Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Banh said at the time that the larger port would allow for larger guest ships including American naval vessels.
“Please don’t be too worried about this Ream base,” Banh said in 2022 in front of a sign proclaiming that the project was being funded by “grant aid from the People’s Republic of China.”
Cambodia has declined to report how much funding it has received from the CCP for the port expansion.
“This port is too small and even after upgrading it can’t be a port that would threaten any countries,” Banh said.
A CCP official said at the ceremony that China’s partnership with Cambodia had “strategic significance.” The CCP has only responded indirectly to questions about its plans for the naval base.
To date, the only foreign vessels to dock at the base are the Chinese warships.
In February, two Japanese destroyers were routed instead to the nearby Sihanoukville commercial port. A Royal Australian Navy frigate was also directed to Sihanoukville for a port of call ending Sept. 4.
Euan Graham, a senior defense analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said that if the Chinese military were granted preferred or exclusive access to the naval base in exchange for the two warships, it could function as a work-around to Cambodia’s constitutional provision that forbids foreign military bases.
“It’s quite a smart move, as it allows Cambodia to maintain its line that it hasn’t deviated from the constitution by creating a foreign base. And China has no shortage of warships to donate,” he said. “I expect that China may retain a naval complement on board the corvettes, post-transfer. The real question is what level of access the PLAN [People’s Liberation Army Navy] will have to Ream, and whether that access is exclusive.”
