Ream Naval Base

The Chinese leader will this week visit Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, where he will attempt to contrast China's steady economic engagement with the volatility of the current U.S. administration.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said that the refurbished base would be open to "all friendly parties," but U.S. suspicions are likely to persist.

Phnom Penh is eager to demonstrate that Ream Naval Base will be open to foreign navies, though Western suspicions are likely to persist.

Cambodia is seeking to rebalance its foreign relations by pursuing improved relations with the United States. How far will its relationship with China allow it to go?

According to a report by Radio Free Asia, the base, including a 300-meter deep-water pier, will be transferred to the Cambodian navy next month.

Prime Minister Hun Manet's accession last year has opened a window of opportunity for Phnom Penh and Washington.

Whether or not William Burns visited Cambodia, as former PM Hun Sen seemed to claim, U.S.-China competition has set off an intelligence race in Southeast Asia.

Lloyd Austin's visit is a sign that Washington is seeking to re-engage the new look leadership in Phnom Penh, in a bid to draw the country out of China's orbit.

Arguments that Cambodia's China-backed canal project will pose a security threat to Vietnam are wildly overblown.

A total of 1,315 military personnel from Cambodia and 760 from China will participate in the 15-day Golden Dragon exercise.

The Golden Dragon exercise, which has been held regularly since 2016, encapsulates the increasingly intimate defense ties between Beijing and Phnom Penh.

Two Chinese navy corvettes have been moored at the base's new China-built pier since December.

The China-backed Techo Funan Canal, which will connect the Mekong River to the country’s coast, has given rise to environmental and security concerns.

U.S. assessments of the Chinese role in the base's refurbishment have shifted subtly over the past year.

As Cambodia fully embraces the “China model,” the country’s role in the geopolitical competition between the United States and China is becoming increasingly important.

Should it eventuate, a Chinese naval presence on the Gulf of Thailand would place the country in a tricky position.

Much discussion about China's role in the refurbishment of the base has overlooked Phnom Penh's own economic and security imperatives.

Satellite images confirm China-backed Ream upgrade is almost complete.

Allowing China exclusive access to the Ream Naval Base, or any other facility, would seem to contradict the broader direction of the country's foreign policy.

The establishment of a Chinese military presence in southern Cambodia would mark the culmination of three decades of misplaced U.S. policy toward the country.

At the top of the agenda was China's refurbishment of facilities at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base.

Despite the two nations' differences, Chum Sounry says relations are moving ahead.

Prime Minister Hun Sen says the naval base is “not a place for thieves or robbers.”

The deteriorating rights situation in Cambodia will be a major distraction from ASEAN’s agenda.