The Chinese Base That Isn't There
In 2020, something curious happened at Cambodia's Ream military base, on the
Gulf of Thailand
Not long after submitting -- and then abruptly withdrawing -- a request for
the U.S. Defence Department to refurbish parts of the base, Cambodian
officials proceeded to demolish the American-funded buildings that were
already there, some only four years old.
Then the Chinese got to work.
Since December, two Chinese warships have docked nearly every day at the
rapidly expanding port. And the work taking place at Ream is in keeping with a
Chinese building spree that ranges from near the Red Sea to the South China
Sea.
The Chinese military presence near one of the world's most vital sea lanes
raises fundamental questions about Beijing's ambitions. While the American
constellation of military bases remains by far the largest in the world, a
resurgent China is bringing countries like Cambodia into its orbit.
"The potential for a permanent Chinese military presence in Cambodia raises
significant geopolitical concerns," said Sophal Ear, a Cambodian-American
political scientist at the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona
State University. "It could prompt strategic adjustments from the U.S. and
heighten global perceptions of Chinese militarization."
The Long Visit
For context: China has, at most, a handful of foreign military bases while the US has SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY pic.twitter.com/uWnnXxf2D0
— Quincy Institute (@QuincyInst) July 15, 2024
On Dec. 3, 2023, Cambodia's defence minister announced that two Chinese navy
corvettes were visiting Ream for a joint military exercise. Satellite images
show that the warships had arrived two days earlier. They have stayed in the
vicinity ever since.
The corvettes are the only ships that have docked at the new Chinese-built
pier at Ream, which can accommodate ships far larger than any in Cambodia's
fleet. Cambodia's own smaller corvettes dock at a much more modest pier to the
south.
Over the past few years, American officials and Japanese naval vessels have
also tried to visit Ream. They were denied full access.
"We are cleareyed about the People's Republic of China's efforts to establish
overseas military bases, including at Ream," said John Supple, a Pentagon
spokesperson. "We're particularly concerned about the People's Republic of
China's lack of transparency around its intentions and the terms it
negotiates, because countries should be free to make sovereign choices that
support their interests and regional security."
The Cambodians deny any greater Chinese intent.
When U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin travelled to Cambodia in early
June, he was told by his counterparts there that China was simply helping
Cambodia modernize its military, not building a base for itself.
"The Ream military base is Cambodia's, not the military base of any country,"
Mey Dina, the commander of the base, told The New York Times. "It is not right
to say that the base is controlled by China."
While the construction at Ream is still underway, no foreign vessels will be
allowed to dock there, Mey Dina said. The foreign vessels that have been
docked there for more than half a year -- the Chinese corvettes -- were for
"training only," he said.
Power Projection
China's leader, Xi Jinping, has articulated a grand vision for his growing
superpower. Chief among his military goals: a blue-water navy that can project
Beijing's might far from China's shores.
Today, China boasts the world's largest navy in terms of the number of
vessels. And it has added aircraft carriers to its fleet.
But navies of this size and scope, operating thousands of miles from home,
need access to bases abroad.
In 2017, after years of evasiveness about what was being built, China
completed its first base on foreign soil, in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa.
That same year, China put finishing touches on a far more startling project in
disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Churning up coral and sand from the ocean floor, state-owned dredgers created
military installations on what had once been placid atolls called the
Spratlys. An international tribunal has ruled that some of those specks of
land are not Chinese territory.
The same kind of state-owned dredgers are now operating in Ream. Out of
reclaimed land, they have created a wharf and dry dock, each of which far
surpasses the needs of the Cambodian fleet.
Still, unlike the installations at the Spratlys, Ream does not appear to have
building sites reserved for missile launchers or fighter jet hangars. Ream may
be primarily intended as a resupply station for the Chinese navy, according to
satellite analysts.
"Ream is more like China playing roulette as it looks for ports for the blue
water navy that Xi Jinping wants," said Gregory B. Poling, director of the
Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. "I don't think any Chinese planner looked at all the
possible locations around the world and said, 'Ream is the one we need.' It's
more that Ream is one of the only ones on offer because China has no real
allies and few friends."
Commercial Beachheads
Even as the dredgers were working overtime at the Spratlys, Xi stood at the
White House and swatted away fears that China's new islands -- which now
bristle with fighter jet-ready runways, radar domes and warehouses made for
missiles -- were for military purposes. Chinese officials said they would be
havens for tourism.
China's base building has depended on state-owned companies, which are legally
obligated to pursue the country's national security interests, to make the
initial forays. Chinese officials are blunt about the strategy: "First
civilian, then military," is how they put it.
Establishing a commercial beachhead is easier in countries where China already
holds economic sway.
In recent years, Cambodia has steadily marched into China's arms. Its longtime
leader, Hun Sen, used to excoriate the United States for linking its aid and
investment to improvements in the country's human rights record.
Now, Cambodia is led by Hun Sen's son, Hun Manet, who, although a graduate of
the U.S. Military Academy, has shown little inclination so far to recalibrate
from his father's pro-China bent.
Ream is 80% finished, according to its commander, Mey Dina. Military analysts
expect that the base will be complete by the end of the year.
Not far away, a Chinese company has carved out of once-protected jungle a
runway long enough to accommodate bombers, which Cambodia does not have. The
company says the airfield is largely intended for Chinese holidaygoers.
That is reminiscent of the innocent explanations offered for the Chinese
construction in the Spratlys and Djibouti, said Ear, the political scientist.
"China downplays or misrepresents the military nature of its overseas
installations," he said. "Despite Cambodia's denials, the lack of transparency
and the close relationship between Cambodia and China suggest the possibility
that Ream could follow this familiar playbook."
(With Inputs From International Agencies)
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