Satellite pictures expose sneaky China move in Cambodia

Images reveal Chinese warships are a permanent feature at a new naval base “gifted” to another country, sparking major concerns.

China paid for it. China built it. Now, satellite photos reveal Chinese warships are a permanent feature at a new naval base “gifted” to Cambodia.

A 300-metre-long, military-grade pier – big enough to accommodate Beijing’s aircraft carriers – is chief among the facilities being constructed by China at the Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand.

These include a dry dock, a wharf, new offices and barracks and several other large buildings.

The size of the pier and extent of land-based support infrastructure have raised eyebrows among international analysts.

Cambodia does not have a large enough navy to use them.

And despite repeated denials that the base would be used by China, satellite photos have revealed Chinese warships to have been a near-permanent feature since the pier was completed late last year.

Satellite images show a pier being built at Cambodian Ream navy base. Picture: Blacksky

The development has raised concern among Cambodia’s neighbours and the United States. Beijing may have covertly constructed a base that can give it military control over the southernmost end of its arbitrary “10-Dash Line” territorial grab of almost the entirety of the South China Sea.

It would also put its naval forces within striking distance of Singapore and the crucial Malacca Strait shipping lane – a narrow channel linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and providing China access to Middle Eastern oil.

But despite mounting evidence to the contrary, Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol last week attempted to dismiss the claims.

“The Ream Naval Base is not for the Chinese,” Sun told an event run by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Satellite images show a pier being built at Cambodian Ream navy base. Picture: Blacksky

“The Chinese provided us with the assistance to expand the Ream Naval Base for our national defence, not to be used by the Chinese or any military against another country.

“When this naval base is completed, any navy can call on that port, as long as it’s for humanitarian and disaster recovery or joint military exercise.”

Chinese presence

In April this year, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) referred to satellite imagery to reveal the presence of the two Chinese corvettes.

The 1440-ton vessels had arrived at the newly completed pier in December for what officials described as “training purposes”.

“It appears that they’ve been based there, just as the leaked 2019 MOU [memorandum of understanding] suggested they would be,” AMTI director Greg Poling told RFA at the time.

He was referring to documents revealing an agreement between Cambodia and China in 2019 that gave Beijing exclusive rights to much of the naval base.

“This isn’t just a visit or an exercise,” Poling said.

“Despite the Hun Sen and Hun Manet governments’ denials, the PLAN [People’s Liberation Army Navy] is operating out of Ream.”

Two corvettes have remained a permanent feature at the facility.

Some analysts say a rotation of Chinese vessels may be a technical means of satisfying Cambodia’s constitutional banning of a “permanent” foreign military presence on its soil. Others argue this is standard practice to allow crews home leave.

If true, Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base would be Beijing’s second overseas military port.

Its first is in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa. And despite Beijing’s insistence that it is there for regional security and anti-piracy operations, the warships stationed there have refused to take part in protecting shipping in the adjacent Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from Houthi missile and drone attacks.

Satellite images show a pier being built at Cambodian Ream navy base. Picture: Blacksky

The United States has more than 500 overseas military bases. It has access to facilities in Singapore, the Philippines and Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory.

But Beijing has been investing and lobbying heavily to gain a presence across the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It owns and operates a commercial port in Sri Lanka. And it has been pursuing similar projects in the Maldives and Solomon Islands.

“Thailand, Vietnam and to some extent, the Philippines ought to be alarmed over the increase of (Chinese) military activity in the Gulf of Thailand, given the overlapping territorial claims there and in the South China Sea … tensions could rise as a result (and) that’s something the Cambodian leadership needs to be aware of,” Lowy Institute researcher Dr Abdul Rahman recently told CNA.

Satellite images show a pier being built at Cambodian Ream navy base. Picture: Blacksky

Pushing the envelope

Despite assurances, reports suggest much of the base has been “off limits” to even Cambodian military and civilian personnel.

The Chinese corvettes have spent more than 90 per cent of their time docked at the pier.

Cambodian General Chhum Sucheat said they are training his personnel in “technical skills in the operation of ships, weapons, and other new technologies”.

The Chinese construction works were initiated in 2016. By 2019, the Ream Naval Base was embroiled in controversy.

A secret agreement leaked to the Wall Street Journal revealed Phnom Penh had signed a 30-year exclusive access lease with Beijing.

Then Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called the report “the worst fake news against Cambodia”, insisting that allowing foreign bases on Cambodian soil was unconstitutional.

Beijing’s Ministry of Defence called the report “fabricated”. It insisted China’s involvement would not extend beyond training.

This satellite photo taken by Planet Labs PBC shows two Chinese corvettes docked at the Ream Naval Base on the Gulf of Thailand on May 8, 2024. File Image/Planet Labs PBC via AP

“There is no agreement or law stating that the construction is reserved solely for Chinese benefit,” a Cambodian government official said in 2022. It would welcome visits from other countries, “including the United States”.

But a visit by a British patrol vessel in March saw the ship diverted to a mooring in a distant corner of the Ream naval facility – not the new pier.

A US defence attache was denied access to the base in 2021 – despite being officially invited for a visit. And several US-funded buildings and a Vietnamese-built “friendship centre” have been demolished as part of the Chinese works.

In August, Cambodia’s defence ministry confirmed that China would “gift” two warships along with the new port facilities in response to a request for further military support.

These would be Type 056A corvettes – the same type stationed at Ream for much of the year.

Beijing has built more than 70 of the patrol-escort-surveillance ships. They are used by the PLAN, the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) and the navies of Bangladesh and Nigeria.

The Cambodian defence ministry says it expects the ships to be delivered next year.

“(This is) part of efforts to strengthen Cambodia’s capacity to maintain regional peace, security, and humanitarian operations, including search and rescue missions,” a spokesperson said.

Jamie Seidel is a freelance writer | @JamieSeidel

Originally published as Satellite pictures expose sneaky China move in Cambodia