A US warship docked in Cambodia yesterday, just kilometers away from a Chinese-renovated naval base, in the first US military port call to one of Beijing’s closest regional allies in eight years.
Washington’s relationship with Phnom Penh has been deteriorating for years, with China pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure investment under former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen.
Reporters saw Cambodian navy personnel welcoming the arrival of the USS Savannah to the southern port city of Sihanoukville.
Photo: AFP
The ship’s commanding officer Daniel Sledz said that “it is great to be back, returning US presence here after eight years,” adding that his crew were “very pleased” to be hosted by Cambodia.
The US embassy posted a statement on social media saying that the combat ship is on a “goodwill visit” that aims to “boost US-Cambodia coordination and response to shared maritime security challenges.”
The Cambodian Ministry of National Defense on Friday last week said that the five-day visit aims to “strengthen and expand friendship,” and “promote bilateral cooperation.”
China since 2022 has been funding the renovation of the Ream naval base, about 30km from Sihanoukville, which was originally built partly using US funds.
Washington has said the Ream base could give Beijing a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand near the disputed South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety.
Cambodian leaders have repeatedly denied that the base is for use by any foreign power.
Chinese warships first docked at the 363m pier in December last year. Two berthed at Sihanoukville port in May as part of Beijing’s biggest joint military drills with Cambodia.
The Chinese military unveiled machine gun-equipped “robodogs” this year at the annual joint exercises, known as the “Golden Dragon” drills.
Cambodia in early 2017 scrapped similar joint exercises with US forces that had been held for the previous seven years.
The ministry said that 27 US Navy vessels have visited the nation since 2007, although the visit of the USS Savannah with 103 crew members was the first docking in eight years.
The ship’s senior officers are to meet with the Ream base’s commander.
Beijing yesterday responded to the US warship’s visit to Sihanoukville saying: “Such exchanges and collaborations in security and defense should contribute to promoting regional peace and stability, rather than the opposite.”
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Cambodia in June to reset ties with the staunch China ally.
Cambodian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn and the US embassy’s Bridgette Walker last week hailed the “reinvigoration” of military ties between the two nations.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats