Cambodia denied again Tuesday that it will allow any Chinese military presence at a port where it and China are beginning an expansion this week. The joint project has prompted concern in the United States and elsewhere that it will be used by Beijing as a naval outpost on the Gulf of Thailand.
Chief government spokesman Phay Siphan described the expansion of the Ream Naval Base as “cooperation between China and Cambodia” and said the Chinese ambassador to Cambodia will preside over the groundbreaking on Wednesday along with Cambodia’s defense minister and other senior military officials.
He denied, however, a report in the Washington Post citing an anonymous Chinese official that the facility on the northern side of the Cambodian base would be used in part by the Chinese military.
In full: https://thediplomat.com/2022/06/china-cambodia-breaking-ground-on-joint-port-project/
