This report is according to Chhum Socheat, a Cambodian defense ministry spokesman, who spoke to AFP and assured that there was no Chinese military presence on the base. The base in question is situated on the Gulf of Thailand and has long been a source of contention, with accusations that Beijing, a close ally of Cambodia, is funding the revamp to expand its global military reach. "We already declared that there is no Chinese military base there - we are just modernizing our military to reach a capable level to protect our territorial integrity," Chhum Socheat stated.
These developments occur amid a backdrop of tense relations between Cambodia and the U.S., with the latter harboring suspicions over the true intentions of the base as far back as 2019. Reports from the Wall Street Journal suggested that a deal allowing Beijing to dock warships at the base had been struck, a claim vehemently denied by the Cambodian government.
The rapid progress of construction at the base, marked by the emergence of a 363-meter pier, has been captured in new satellite images provided by U.S. commercial imagery company, BlackSky. These pictures underscore the similarities between the newly built pier and a similar military installation at the People's Liberation Army Support Base in Djibouti.
Craig Singleton of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a security think tank based in Washington, pointed out this near-exact resemblance. The Cambodian defense ministry spokesman, however, rejected these assertions, denying that the pier is intended to accommodate aircraft carriers.
Cambodia's ties with China have deepened under the reign of longtime ruler Hun Sen, whose party secured a resounding victory in a recent election. The election was widely criticized by Western powers as neither free nor fair, but this did not deter Chinese President Xi Jinping from sending a personal message of congratulations to Hun Sen, pledging to deepen ties further.
This tight-knit relationship between China and Cambodia has unfolded over the past several decades, with the 70-year-old Hun Sen, known for his autocratic rule, indicating that he plans to transfer power soon to his eldest son.
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