Cambodia says expanded port funded by China opening next month - with first call from Japanese navy

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian naval port expansion funded by China that has raised concerns over Beijing's growing military reach in the region has been completed. The port will host a Japanese vessel as the first foreign warship to make a port call, officials said Tuesday.

The Ream Naval Base — with a new pier to accommodate much larger ships, a dry dock for repairs and other features — will be inaugurated on April 2 by Prime Minister Hun Manet, according to Maj. Gen. Thong Solimo, spokesman for Cambodia's armed forces.

“Giving priority to Japanese warships ... is a tribute to the high level of openness in cooperation, relations and mutual trust,” Thong said

China and Cambodia broke ground on the port project in 2022, prompting the United States to express concerns that it could become a strategically-important outpost for the Chinese navy on the Gulf of Thailand.

The Gulf is adjacent to the South China Sea, a key waterway that China claims almost in its entirety. The U.S. has refused to recognize China’s sweeping claim and routinely conducts military maneuvers there to reinforce that they are international waters.

Initial fears grew last year after Chinese warships docked at the newly built pier for months, and two Japanese destroyers that made a Cambodia port call were routed to a different facility nearby.

With the announcement about Japan's planned port call, Cambodia is likely trying to project that it's open to countries other than China, said Euan Graham, a senior defense analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“This would appear to be a conscious demonstration by Cambodia, that Ream is not exclusively for” China's military, he said.

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force confirmed Cambodia's invitation to Japanese ships, but refused to give any specifics, citing regular operational security regulations.

China is Cambodia’s biggest investor and closest political partner, and in recent years has been rapidly expanding its navy and becoming growingly assertive in pressing its vast maritime claims.

Fears over China's activity at the Ream base arose in 2019 when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of an agreement seen by U.S. officials would allow China 30-year use of the base, where it would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships.

Cambodia’s government has denied such an agreement or any intention to grant China special privileges at the base, though Beijing has funded its expansion and docked its warships there for months at a time.

In September, Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said that China would give Cambodia's navy two warships of the type docked there while the expansion project was still underway.

Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Chhum Socheat said Tuesday that Cambodia intends the facility to be open to the U.S. and others.

“All warships from friendly countries are allowed to dock at the new pier but they must comply to our conditions first,” he said, without specifying what those conditions might be.

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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.