BEIJING – China will send two warships to Cambodia and Timor-Leste from the first half of May to mid-June, its Defence Ministry said, potentially further unnerving the United States over concerns about growing Chinese presence at a key Cambodian naval base.
China will send its largest naval training ship, the Qijiguang, along with a giant amphibious warfare ship, the Jinggangshan, to the two countries for training with local naval cadets to enhance mutual trust between their navies, the Chinese Defence Ministry said in a statement on May 9.
The Jinggangshan dock landing ship is capable of transporting helicopters, armoured vehicles, boats and landing craft as well as nearly 1,000 troops.
The Qijiguang is smaller but is China’s technologically most advanced military training vessel.
China did not say where the vessels will be based while in Cambodia and Timor-Leste.
But the visit of the Chinese ships could further fuel US concerns about the presence of Chinese warships at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, whose recent expansion has been backed by China.
Cambodia’s decision to allow China to develop Ream, located at a key waterway on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville province, has upset Washington.
The US is worried that the base will give Beijing a new outpost near the contested South China Sea, most of which is claimed by China.
Before a China-funded upgrade began in June 2022, Ream had been the site of some joint naval training and exercises between the US and Cambodia. Cambodia demolished the US-built facility in October 2020.
Another two Chinese warships, likely corvettes or frigates, have been docked at Ream since December. Cambodia’s Defence Ministry insisted on May 8 that their presence does not constitute a permanent deployment of the Chinese military in the country.
China has been boosting its “ironclad” friendship with the South-east Asian country, amid high-level state and military leader exchanges since 2023.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun in March met with Deputy Commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army Mao Sophan in Beijing, with both pledging further military cooperation. REUTERS
