Chinese warships have been docked in Cambodia for 5 months, but government says it’s not permanent

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Defense Ministry insisted Wednesday that the months-long presence of two Chinese warships in a strategically important naval base that is being newly expanded with funding from Beijing does not constitute a permanent deployment of the Chinese military in the country.

Questions had arisen after the Center for Strategic and International Studies reported last month that two Chinese corvettes that docked at the Ream Naval Base’s new pier in December had maintained a nearly permanent presence there since.

Current satellite images, analyzed by The Associated Press, confirm that the two ships remained there on Wednesday, more than five months since they initially appeared.

The United States and others have long worried that the new pier at the Ream Naval Base, built with Chinese funding, could serve as a new outpost for the Chinese navy on the Gulf of Thailand, but Cambodia has said that would not happen.

Asked about why the two ships had been there for five months, Defense Ministry spokesperson Gen. Chhum Socheat told the AP they were due to take part in a joint Cambodian-Chinese military exercise later this month, and that they were also involved in training Cambodian sailors.

“We have been clear that Cambodia is not allowing any foreign forces to be deployed on its territory,” he said. “That won’t happen; that point is in our Constitution and we are fully following it.”

He said the ships were also “testing” the new pier, and that they were on show for Cambodia, which was considering purchasing similar warships for its own navy.

“The ships are docked for the training period only, they are not staying permanently,” he said.

Controversy over Ream Naval Base initially arose in 2019 when