Two Chinese warships yesterday docked in a commercial port in Cambodia as part of the biggest-ever joint military drills with the Southeast Asian nation, with Beijing’s ambassador hailing their “ironclad” friendship.
Cambodia has long been a staunch ally of China and has received billions of dollars in investment.
The Jingangshan amphibious warfare ship and Qijiguang training ship sailed in to the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port as onlookers waved Cambodian and Chinese flags from the piers.
Photo: AFP
The port is north of the Ream Naval Base, which was originally built partly using US funds and is where China has financed a broad expansion project.
That construction has been carefully watched by the US and others over concerns it could become a new outpost for the Chinese navy on the Gulf of Thailand.
The gulf is adjacent to the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety, and would give easy access to the Malacca Strait, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.
Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian (王文天) dismissed concerns about Ream, telling reporters at Sihanoukville that wherever the Chinese navy sails “we bring friendship, we bring cooperation” and nothing else.
“The cooperation between the two armies, between China and Cambodia, is conducive to the security of both countries and the security of the region,” he said, standing on the pier.
The Chinese vessels docked at the port as part of 15 days of land and sea drills involving 760 Chinese military personnel along with about 1,300 Cambodians and 11 Cambodian vessels.
The Qijiguang bore a banner reading: “Bring peace and friendship to meet good friends” as it approached the port.
“We are ironclad friends,” Wang said.
Two Chinese warships docked at Ream in December last year for the first time after work began to expand the base. Cambodian officials last year denied a new 363m pier at Ream was intended to berth aircraft carriers.
At the start of the drills on Thursday, China’s military showed off its hardware including so-called “robodogs” — remote-controlled four-legged robots with automatic rifles mounted on their backs.
Handlers kept the dogs of war on the leash, demonstrating only their walking capabilities to watching journalists and top brass — not their shooting skills.
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