Chinese navy ships make a friendship visit to Cambodia as concerns over military links linger

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia (AP) — Two Chinese warships arrived Friday on what China called a friendship and training visit to Cambodia, Beijing’s closest ally in Southeast Asia, at a time of some diplomatic disquiet.

The visit comes as China is trying to maintain a delicate balance in its relations with Cambodia and neighboring Thailand, with which it is also friendly.

The two Southeast Asian nations in late July were in armed conflict for five days over competing claims to border territory, and Beijing’s supplying weaponry to Cambodia has caused irritation in Thailand. The border dispute has not been resolved and tensions remain high.

Sam Sokha, a spokesperson for the Cambodian navy, said Wednesday the main goal of the visit is to strengthen cooperation and that the warships were not intended to show support for Cambodia in the border dispute.

The amphibious warfare ship Yimeng Shan and the training ship Qijiguang sailed into Sihanoukville’s civilian port on the Gulf of Thailand and are due to leave next Tuesday, after which they are scheduled to make similar visits to Thailand and Singapore.

In what may be a gesture to easing political concerns, the ships docked at the commercial port rather than the nearby Ream Naval Base, which some Western military analysts fear is a de facto Chinese base.

China funded a broad expansion project of the naval base, hardening the suspicions of the U.S. government that Beijing has secretly been granted exclusive privileges to use it, a claim repeatedly denied by Cambodian officials.

China over the past decades has vastly increased its naval fleet and operations. The gulf is adjacent to the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety, and expedites access to the Malacca Strait, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

Rear Adm. In Sokhemra, deputy chief of the Ream Naval Base, welcomed the visitors. “Every year foreign ships often come to Sihanoukville in Cambodia to conduct cooperative exercises and to strengthen friendship and solidarity, whether from China, the Philippines, Australia or the United States,” he told journalists.

Visibly illustrating his point, the port on Friday also welcomed a visit by the Australian Navy’s frigate HMAS Ballarat, which will depart on Monday after docking about 500 meters (yards) away from the Chinese ships.

The Ballarat is on what the Australian Defence Force calls a “Regional Presence Deployment,” which in addition to port visits includes participation in ”exercises and cooperative activities with partner nations, demonstrating Australia’s commitment to a secure, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.”

During its voyage so far, it has conducted a bilateral exercise with Brunei, and a multilateral one with Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom, as well as training in the South China Sea with U.S. Navy vessels.

Without specifically mentioning the visit of the Chinese ships, China’s Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin posted on his Facebook page late Wednesday that China is determined to help protect Cambodia’s sovereignty and will always be a reliable partner in the country’s development.

“China firmly supports Cambodia in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and will always be a reliable partner in Cambodia’s development,” the post said.

A large group of ethnic Chinese civilians were among the welcoming crowd. Sihanoukville is a center for Chinese investment, but also for Chinese-run criminal activities, most notably scam centers which perpetrate large-scale online fraud and are often staffed by foreigners who have been tricked into working there and are held captive.

Members of the crowd raised Chinese flags and Chinese-language placards to welcome the ships, and a traditional Chinese dragon dance was performed as the captain of one of the ships disembarked.