Writer: Abdul Rahman Yaacob, ANU
Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base — a facility within the Gulf of Thailand — has in recent times been the topic of curiosity from main powers competing for affect in Southeast Asia. China’s efforts to entry the bottom first surfaced in July 2019 after the Wall Road Journal reported an alleged settlement permitting the Chinese language army to make use of the bottom. The Cambodian authorities facilitated a go to to the naval base for 70 native and international journalists to counter the findings of the report.
Regardless of Cambodia’s efforts to dispel allegations of a Chinese language army presence on the Ream Naval Base, suspicions continued to mount. Following US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s go to to Phnom Penh in 2021, the Cambodian authorities agreed to a go to by the Cambodia-based US Defence Attaché. However the go to marked a downward pattern in US–Cambodia relations because the US Embassy in Phnom Penh claimed that Cambodian army officers refused full entry to the bottom.
A Cambodian defence official, interviewed beneath Chatham Home Guidelines, supplied a counter-narrative on the US go to. In response to Sherman’s request, the Cambodian authorities shaped a Coordination Working Group to satisfy the US Defence Attaché’s necessities. The go to included a one-hour assembly, visits to newly constructed buildings, an Australian-supported naval workshop and the development of the brand new Tactical Command Headquarters at Koh Preab.
Whereas the go to initially went in accordance with plan, the US delegation demanded entry to areas outdoors the visitation settlement’s scope. From Cambodia’s perspective, the sudden demand to entry areas past what was agreed challenged its sovereignty and nationwide safety — in order that they rejected the delegation’s calls for. The Cambodian defence official famous that america would react the identical approach if a international official demanded unrestricted entry to the Pentagon.
Cambodian officers concerned in recently-concluded analysis persistently highlighted the Cambodian navy’s weak point in implementing the dominion’s maritime safety. Shore-to-ship communication capabilities are missing and the Royal Cambodian Navy is unable to trace the motion and site of Cambodian navy vessels additional out at sea. The Ream Naval Base doesn’t have the services to host giant visiting warships and the encompassing waters are too shallow to host giant international naval vessels. Visiting international naval vessels are usually primarily based on the close by commercially-run Sihanoukville Port.
The just lately introduced Chinese language-funded growth mission on the Ream Naval Base goals to supply the Cambodian Navy with the services and know-how to deal with these shortcomings. The event mission will enhance medical and coaching services and restore eight Cambodian naval vessels. Different new services will cowl communication and surveillance methods, together with communication and radar services important for long-range shore-to-ship communication and to trace the placement of Cambodian naval vessels out at sea. The waters across the base might be deepened, and wharves might be constructed to allow bigger international warships to dock. These developments will permit Cambodia to obtain bigger international naval vessels on goodwill or coaching visits on the base.
The Cambodian official added that China is funding the developmental mission with none situations hooked up. Through the negotiations, the Chinese language understood that Cambodia wouldn’t share management of the Ream Naval Base and that Phnom Penh wouldn’t take sides within the US–China rivalry.
The identical official additionally famous that america had a eager curiosity within the naval base. When Cambodia demolished a US-funded constructing hooked up to the bottom in 2020, america reportedly supplied to construct two new buildings in return for shared authority over components of the bottom, a proposal that Cambodia rejected.
There are official operational causes for Cambodia to develop its naval services and, by permitting China to fund the bottom’s growth, Cambodia is benefiting from Beijing’s efforts to win affect in Southeast Asia. But Phnom Penh is conscious of the sensitivity surrounding the bottom and the necessity to make sure that it isn’t utilized by international powers to hurt the pursuits of ASEAN member states.
This sentiment was demonstrated by the joint Cambodian–Vietnamese declaration in December 2021 — that no hostile forces could be allowed to make use of their respective territories to hurt one another’s safety. The Cambodian officers interviewed say that their place doesn’t permit the Ream Naval Base for use by one main energy towards one other.
As US–China competitors intensifies, the window throughout which Cambodia can extract advantages from competing patrons whereas resisting main energy strain to take sides is narrowing. Cambodian policymakers ought to take into account this when charting the Kingdom’s course by the uneven waters of nice energy rivalry.
Abdul Rahman Yaacob is a PhD candidate on the Nationwide Safety Faculty (NSC), The Australian Nationwide College (ANU). He was one of many 4 Chief Investigators in a just lately concluded mission on Australia–ASEAN defence relations which was hosted by NSC and funded by the Australian Military Analysis Centre. Some data for this text is derived from interviews with senior Cambodian defence officers.
