Two Chinese navy ships have now spent more than four months at Ream Naval Base in Cambodia, the first and only two ships to have docked at a new pier built with Chinese funding, according to a report by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI).
The extended and exclusive access to the new pier comes after years of concerns expressed by the United States and others over a rumoured secret agreement between Beijing and Phnom Penh — always denied by Cambodia — to establish a permanent Chinese military presence at Ream.
Questions have now arisen as to “whether that presence has, in fact, been established”, said the AMTI, part of the US-based Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), a nonprofit policy research organisation.
The two Chinese warships were first seen at Ream on Dec 3 in a Facebook post by Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Seiha saying that they were there for training engagements with the Cambodian navy.
In January, Radio Free Asia reported that they had left the base, before they were spotted again in images taken in March and published in a report by Nikkei.
However, the AMTI report said the commercial satellite imagery that it examined shows that, in fact, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships never left Ream, and have maintained a consistent presence for over four months.
The ships are visible docked at a new pier on 85 out of the 91 dates for which clear imagery was available since the ships initially docked there on Dec 3, it said.
The pier was only seen empty for two brief periods from Jan 15-18 and March 29-30.
Satellite imagery also showed no other ships, including any Cambodian vessels, docking at the new pier, which was completed last year to enable larger warships to dock in Ream’s shallow waters.
“While previous language from then prime minister Hun Sen had claimed that the base’s upgraded facilities would be open to visits from all navies, two Japanese destroyers that made a port call in February were routed to Sihanoukville Autonomous Port rather than Ream,” the report said.
Cambodian boats at Ream have continued to cluster at the base’s older, smaller pier to the south, it added.
New construction
Meanwhile, construction at the rest of Ream Naval Base has progressed by leaps and bounds, with some key upgrades now nearing completion. The AMTI posted several images on its website showing the changes that are taking place.
In the southwest, a new wharf and drydock are taking shape that would further expand available docking capacity and enable maintenance and repair operations on larger ships.
Large land clearings in the north and northwest have now been filled in with warehouses, administrative complexes, and what appear to be living quarters — complete with four regulation-size basketball courts.
Along the northwestern coast, in an area that housed US and Australian-funded facilities before they were taken down in 2020 amid Chinese-funded upgrades, over a dozen buildings constructed between 2020 and 2022 have been demolished and the area paved with concrete, suggesting changing plans for the area. A fence and two watchtowers have been completed along the base’s northeast border.
In the southwest, over 60 acres of land have been cleared for new construction in what was previously an unused area covered in vegetation.
“At some point, the two PLAN corvettes that have been at Ream since December will leave,” said the report. “Whether they are replaced with other Chinese ships, how long those ships stay, and whether other navies are afforded the same opportunities will all speak volumes about the true nature of the relationship between China’s navy and Ream.”