For the first time, the Chinese ship docked at Cambodia's Yunlang naval base, which is undergoing Chinese-funded upgrades, a move that has raised concerns in the United States about its potential role in expanding China's overseas military footprint.
Cambodian Defense Minister Di Si Ha visited the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy docked at Yun Lang Port on Sunday with his father, former Di Banh, according to an article on official social media.
Although the article does not specifically mention the squadron, the accompanying ** shows two PLA Navy frigates docked side by side. On a frigate, Diban inspected a platoon of Chinese naval officers, which was called the "Wenshan" on the springboard.
According to the article, the ships are preparing for training the Cambodian Navy.
Other ** in the article shows the father and son inspecting infrastructure construction and reviewing the design of the project on site.
Colin Koh, a researcher at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said that according to public records, this is the first time that a PLA naval boat has docked at the port, which was only used by the Cambodian navy before the renovation. Smaller patrol boats.
This is a signal that Yunling is nearing completion. Of course, their work is still ongoing, but at least for now, it has been expanded to the extent that it can accommodate foreign sea ** boats," he said.
John Bradford, executive director of the Yokosuka Asia-Pacific Research Council, said it was not surprising that Chinese ships were the first to visit the upgraded base.
After all, these facilities are funded by the Chinese, and China is a close partner of Cambodia."
The visit coincided with the visit of a senior Chinese general to Phnom Penh, who praised China and Cambodia for their success"A real hardcore friend".
Vice Chairman of the Military Commission, China's highest military body, told Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet that the two teams continue to maintain high-level cooperation in high-level exchanges, mechanism building, joint exercises and training. Xi and personnel training", according to the Chinese reading of the meeting.
Hun Sen, who succeeded his father, Hong Sun, earlier this summer, thanked the Chinese side for their "strong support for the modernization of the Cambodian army," according to a statement released on China's Ministry of National Defense.
According to the report, the Chinese general also held talks with Cambodian Defense Minister Cha and exchanged views on "bilateral relations, military cooperation and international issues of common concern," but did not mention the visiting Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy**.
According to Reuters, a spokesman for the United States said that Washington is closely monitoring reports about the Chinese ship. "While we do not comment on this specific development, we are gravely concerned about China's plan to take exclusive control of parts of the Yunlang naval base," the ** told Reuters. ”
Former Cambodian Defense Minister Banh Banh inspects Chinese naval officers aboard a Chinese frigate at the Rein Long Naval Base. The unprecedented presence of Chinese naval vessels at the Yunlang naval base, which occupies a strategic position at the southern tip of Cambodia near the South China Sea, could deepen long-held U.S. concerns that China is seeking to establish a military outpost in Cambodia.
Concerns have intensified when China and Cambodia** co-chaired a groundbreaking ceremony for a port renovation project with China's free assistance last June.
Cambodia has repeatedly denied that the facility will be used as a naval base by China, insisting that the project is in line with Cambodia's constitution, which prohibits foreign countries from establishing military bases on its territory. At the same time, China described the base as an "aid project" aimed at strengthening the Cambodian navy, and called other claims "hype" with "ulterior motives".
For the United States, the Chinese-funded Yunlang expansion plan is particularly troubling because it involves the demolition of U.S.-funded facilities there — a development that could be likened to Cambodia's growing ties with Beijing and Washington's growing distance. Bradford in Yokosuka Parliament.
For some, the visiting Chinese sea boat has raised a new alarm.
The arrival of the Chinese ** ship in Yunlang marks a major evolution of China's regional defense posture. To continue to deny China's expanding military footprint is to indulge in self-deception," said Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Defence of Democracies.
Singleton, who wrote an analysis earlier this year about Beijing's increasing access to overseas ports, said China's presence at Yunlang Naval Base was part of a broader plan to complicate U.S. military calculations around the world.
By establishing closer military ties and economic dependence with specific countries along major sea routes, Beijing can exert diplomatic pressure on them to limit access to U.S. bases.
Together with Beijing's only overseas military base, Djibouti in East Africa, Yunlang "not only marks a cost-effective extension of China's defense horizons, but also a deliberate and decisive repositioning that has serious implications for Washington and its allies." ”
But other experts point out that the PLA's level of access in Yunlang may be very different from its base in Djibouti, where the squadron can be permanently stationed at an onshore facility in Djibouti. Such an arrangement would be contrary to the Cambodian Constitution.
There are many other types of visit arrangements that do not amount to or fall short of a true base agreement, "such as allocating certain piers only for the use of the Chinese Navy, or ensuring that the PLA Navy can receive them when it visits."
I think that to say that this is a base for the Chinese is exaggerated in many ways. I don't think that's the case," he said.
Cambodia also appears willing to allow other foreign delegations to visit Yun Lang — seen as part of its efforts to refute its allegations that it granted the squadron exclusive access to the naval base. In March last year, a delegation of the Japanese Navy visited the base.
Before we see the future, whether the Cambodians only allow the Chinese navy to dock at the base, or whether they allow other foreign navies to dock, we cannot draw a very simple conclusion that the base is only arranged for Chinese to enter," Gao said.
But even if Yunling will not be used for a dedicated and permanent garrison, regular entry into Yunling could have an impact on military operations related to the South China Sea dispute between China and Southeast Asian claimants.
The Yunling will provide the PLA Navy with an additional axis for attacks and resupply in the event of a conflict in the South China Sea. In addition, bases on the Asian continent may be more easily rehydrated, more resilient and more capable than those established in relatively remote reclaimed areas," said analyst Bradford.
But he noted that Cambodian facilities will not be a "game-changer" in the South China Sea struggle.
"The distance from Ream to the Spratly Islands is greater than the distance from the Spratly Islands to the main PLA base on Hainan Island," he said. "Hainan Island is China's southernmost province and a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea, and Beijing has a military base on Hainan Island. Construction of military installations on man-made islands.
Bradford said squadrons departing from Cambodia would have to fly over Vietnam or make a detour south, passing between the southern tip of Vietnam and the northeastern corner of Peninsular Malaysia, making the line of attack vulnerable to interception.
But Carl Schuster, former chief of operations at U.S. Pacific Command's Joint Command, said Yunling also allows the Chinese Navy to move closer to the southern South China Sea — an important factor in China's expanding operations in the Indonesian Economic Exclusion Zone of Natuna and Malaysia.
This new naval base goes beyond Cambodia's current requirements, but its significance is more geostrategic than purely military. It marks China-Cambodia defense relations and adds to Vietnam's concerns about being surrounded by China. Schuster said.