Satellite images of naval base in Cambodia expose China’s lie

Damning satellite photos show an unusual jagged road being cut into a hillside in an area China insisted it wouldn’t meddle in.

China insisted it wasn’t building a naval base in Cambodia … until its ambassador attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. It insists it won’t arm its overseas facilities … right up until the missiles start flying?

Center for a New American Security (CNAS) analyst Thomas Shugart believes he has spotted evidence Beijing is building fortifications at its not-so-secret facility in the heart of Southeast Asia.

Recent satellite photos show an unusual jagged road being cut into the hillside between its exclusive compound alongside Cambodia’s Ream naval base and the town behind it.

And while on one level it appears simply to be a mass of earthen roadworks, it also bears a striking resemblance to a style of fortification seen amid Chinese outposts elsewhere.

“Something about those cutout areas tickled the back of my brain,” Mr Shugart said.

“Then I remembered where I’d seen something that looked similar: the HQ-9 SAM launchers that defend the PLA Navy’s Yalong naval base (Hainan Island).”

A satellite image of Cambodia’s Ream naval base and the town behind it. Picture: Google

The unusual jagged road being cut into the hillside between its exclusive compound alongside Cambodia’s Ream naval base. Picture: Google

The big lie

For years, Phnom Penh has flatly denied Beijing had anything to do with the radical revamp of its Ream naval base.

Beijing’s Communist Party controlled media leapt to the defence. “The US has turned a blind eye to Cambodia’s rumour-debunking voices with its insidious and poisonous intentions – to sow discord between China and Cambodia and to promote the China threat theory,” it decried.

Then, China’s ambassador to Cambodia was photographed leading the groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site among Chinese soldiers wearing Cambodian uniforms.

It’s unconstitutional for Cambodia to allow foreign troops to be stationed on its soil. But one official grudgingly admitted that “a portion” of the new facility will be exclusively dedicated to Chinese military use.

Might be going out on a limb a bit on this one, but something I saw in imagery of China's ongoing construction at Cambodia's Ream naval base caught my eye today.

Here is the entirety of the base, with the portion that is reportedly reserved for Chinese military use in red. pic.twitter.com/MU3yBASbhj

— Thomas Shugart (@tshugart3) August 26, 2022

Prime Minister Hun Sen was displeased with the revelation and lashed out at international media. “Ream Naval Base is not a place for thieves or robbers. You can say whatever you want. I allowed you to visit, not to investigate or inspect,” he said, according to the Beijing-controlled Global Times.

At the time, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Australia chair Charles Edel said this fitted Beijing’s tactic of taking whatever it could get away with.

“Despite repeated claims from China that it has no intention of establishing a military base in the Solomon Islands or elsewhere in the region, its track record and ambitions suggest otherwise,” Mr Edel said.

Now it also appears that Beijing’s promise to not militarise its controversial overseas military bases must also be taken with a grain of salt.

Lines in the sand

When it was first observed illegally turning several strategic reefs and shoals into artificial islands in 2015, China’s Chairman Xi Jinping insisted he was only constructing “sea rescue and fishing support” facilities.

But it quickly became apparent that the airfield was military-grade, the hangars were armoured, the warehouses were ammunition dumps, and the gun towers were more than simple aesthetics. They’ve since been covered with surface-to-air missile systems (SAMs), lasers, jamming equipment and powerful radars.

While not yet permanently stationed there, combat aircraft pay regular visits to Mischief Reef, Subi Reef and Fiery Cross Reef. Especially anti-submarine and military surveillance types. As do naval warships.

So any claims by Beijing to have no intention to arm its Cambodian facility have a reputation to live down to.

“So, how do the two compare?” Mr Shugart tweeted. “Here they are side-by-side at similar scale.”

So, how do the two compare? Here they are side-by-side at similar scale. In both cases the cut-out "TEL parking" areas (if that's what they are) extend roughly 10-12 meters from the road, and exist in similar numbers. pic.twitter.com/HdvPBdWznP

— Thomas Shugart (@tshugart3) August 26, 2022

“So, is China really building SAM launcher emplacements at an overseas base located in a country that claimed no such base was under construction, and which continues to claim it’d never allow a foreign military base on its soil?

“Probably too early to tell IMO but … maybe?”

The size of the earth cutouts matches those used by missile sites elsewhere. And the amount appears to fit the number of launchers and radars in a standardised Chinese HQ-9 anti-air missile battery.

“What we know is that China has deployed HQ-9 batteries at its other overseas bases, such as at Woody Island and the ‘Big Three’ artificial islands,” Mr Shugart says. “Perhaps it doesn’t actually intend to deploy a battery soon, but just wants to have a facility in place?”

Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @JamieSeidel

Originally published as Satellite images of naval base in Cambodia expose China’s lie