Recently, two Chinese warships have made a first visit to a Cambodian naval base that the United States has long feared will boost China’s influence in the Gulf of Thailand.
Further, the Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Seiha confirmed that he had visited the two ships docked at the base “to prepare a training of our Cambodian naval fleet”.
However, apart from this the Cambodian officials refused to give any details of the vessels, the purpose of their visit or how long they were staying, but a sign on one of the gangways identified it as belonging to the Chinese navy.
Noteworthy, China and Cambodia have an extremely deep friendship, and the two sides have developed richly successful cooperation in many fields.”
The Vice-Chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, General He Weidong, visited Phnom Penh earlier this week and met Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Cambodia has long had close relations with Beijing and US officials fret that the base will boost China’s effort to buttress its international heft with a string of naval and military outposts.
