Cambodia confirms leveling of US-funded defense facilities | World



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Bed sheet The Wall Street Journal (US) reported in 2019 on a secret agreement between Phnom Penh and Beijing that would allow Chinese warships to dock at the Ream naval base near the coastal city of Sihanoukville in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville province. .

The Cambodian government later denied the information. The Wall Street Journal. However, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Beijing would finance the development of the Ream naval base located on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand, according to AFP.

This week, the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released satellite images showing that a US-funded defense installation at the Ream naval base had been destroyed.

CSIS experts question whether Cambodia destroyed this defense facility in order to fulfill the tacit agreement with China.

However, on October 4, Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, Mr. Tea Banh, denied all concerns.

“We have moved this defense facility to a new location. We can no longer maintain this facility because the building is too old,” Tea Banh told AFP. Tea Banh also confirmed that the defense facility was demolished in September.

Tea Banh added that Cambodia only used “a small grant” from the United States for the demolished facility. According to Tea Banh, the new facility is under construction on a site about 30 kilometers north of the Ream naval base.

The leveled defense facility is the Tactical Headquarters of the National Maritime Security Commission, which opened in 2012. The Ream naval base is strategically located in the Gulf of Thailand. If Chinese warships can dock in Ream, this will make it easier for Beijing to increase intimidation and coercion activities in the South China Sea.
However, Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly stated that the Cambodian constitution prohibits any foreign military bases in the country.

In recent years, China has invested heavily in infrastructure projects in Cambodia, especially in the construction of casinos in Sihanoukville.




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