China appeared to have sent two more warships to the Ream naval base in southwest Cambodia, indicating that transfer of two vessels to Cambodia may be imminent.
Satellite images obtained by Radio Free Asia from the Earth imaging firm Planet Labs show two more vessels docked at a new, Chinese-developed pier at the base, opposite the two corvettes Aba and Tianmen that have been there since last year.
Details of the ships were not clear in the images but they are about 90-meters long, similar in size and shape to the Chinese Type 056 missile corvettes.
The two new ships were not there on Feb. 15.
Cambodia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sources told RFA last year that China was expected to hand over new facilities at the base, together with the pier and two warships. In return, analysts said it was likely that the two countries had reached an agreement giving the Chinese navy privileged access to the new base.
The Cambodian military later confirmed that China would transfer two ships and train Cambodian crews on how to operate them.
The Chinese navy has 49 such corvettes, 20 of them in the South Sea Fleet responsible for the South China Sea.
Two vessels of the same class arrived in Ream for the first time in December 2023. Those were replaced by the Aba and the Tianmen, which were used for on-ship training for Cambodian naval personnel.
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This month, China’s ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin visited the Ream base, accompanied by Cambodian Defense Minister Tea Seiha and his father, Tea Banh, a former defense minister who now serves as personal adviser to King Norodom Sihamoni.
Tea Seiha said on his Facebook that the purpose of the visit was to inspect progress in the modernization of the base.
China and Cambodia began developing the base with Chinese funding in June 2021 to the alarm of the United States and some of Cambodia’s neighbors, who said they were worried that Beijing had a growing military presence close to the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
A senior U.S. defense official told RFA that there were concerns “about the precedent of China establishing bases overseas” with Ream.
Cambodia has repeatedly denied that China has been given exclusive military access to the base, saying that would be a violation of the Cambodian constitution.
However, the base has been off-limits to all foreign vessels, apart from those from China.
Cambodia and the U.S. mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year and a U.S. congressional delegation led by former navy intelligence officer Jimmy Panetta is visiting Phnom Penh this week to promote bilateral cooperation.
It is not clear if the subject of the Ream naval base is on the delegation’s agenda.
Edited by Mike Firn.