The Washington Post - USA (2022-06-07)

A14 EZ RE THEWASHINGTONPOST.TUESDAY,JUNE 7 , 2022

searchdirector of the China Mari-

timeStudiesInstituteat the Na-

valWar College,“as impressiveas

those numbers are, withouta

significant network of robust

overseasfacilities,theirabilityto

use themfallsoffrapidlywith

distancefromChina.”

China is nowhere close to

matchingthe network of military

bases the United States has

aroundthe world,amajorU.S.

militaryand strategic advantage,

said RichardFontaine,chiefexec-

utiveof the Centerfor aNew

AmericanSecurity. But, he said,a

basein Cambodia“givesthema

force-projection capabilitythat

theywould otherwise not have in

the region.That’s intrinsic to the

Chineseaspiration of havinga

moredominantmilitarypresence

throughout the Asian rimland

and in the SouthChina Sea, al-

lowingBeijing to holdat risk —

and have politicalinfluenceover

—countriesquitefar fromthe

Chineseshore.”

Djiboutiwas alogicalfirststep

for amilitaryoutpost in thatitis

in aregionfar from China in

which Beijingwantsto have a

presence,in this case to secure its

growingMiddleEasternenergy

interests, Ericksonsaid.Also,the

United States, Franceand Japan

have long had militarybases

there,he noted. “The question

thenbecomes,howdo you start

fillingout the board?”

Cambodiais “a no-brainer”in

thatHun Sen, prime minister

since1985,is “extremelyamena-

ble,”Ericksonsaid,notingthat

the Cambodianleaderhas had a

longstrategicpartnershipwith

Beijing.

“Butthe problemis Cambodia

isasmallcountryinatoughspot,”

he said.“It’strying to have it both

ways: maximumstrategic collab-

oration withChina with mini-

mum regional pushback. That

contradictionis going to be ex-

posedby the undeniabledevelop-

mentof this facility.”

China alsohas reportedly

soughtto establishafacilityin

the UAE. Last year,U.S.intelli-

gence agencieslearnedthatBei-

jing was secretly buildingamili-

taryinstallation at aportinnear

the Emiraticapitalof Abu Dhabi,

the Wall StreetJournalreported.

After meetingsand visitsby U.S.

officials,construction was halted,

the Journalreported. Thecurrent

status of the projectisunclear.

China’ssecretbuildingof a

Cambodianbase“resemblesthe

playbook”it usedin reclaiming

andmilitarizingthe Spratly Is-

landsin the disputedSouthChi-

na Sea beginningin 2015, said

EricSayers,aformeradviserto

the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

whois nowanonresidentfellow

at the AmericanEnterpriseInsti-

tute.“Itstarted quietly,” he said,

“withBeijing claimingits build-

ing of artificialislandson coral

reefs and atolls was for peaceful

purposesand promisingthe fea-

tureswouldnot be militarized.

Then whenit was far too late, we

sawpermanentand irreversible

militarization.”

He said he expected to see the

trendalsoplayout inthe Solo-

monIslands,aSouth Pacific na-

tion thatrecentlysignedasecu-

rityagreementwith China. In

April,after adraft copyof the

agreementwas leaked on social

media, Beijing confirmed the

pact, whichneithergovernment

has released.Accordingto the

leaked copy,China will be permit-

ted to sendarmed policeand

militarypersonnelto the Solo-

mon Islands to help maintain

order.The governmenttherehas

denied it wouldleadto China

establishingamilitarybase.

But Western officialsare skep-

tical.“There’s evidence thatChi-

na is developingplansand has

sent technicalteamsto the Solo-

monsto explorepossibilitiesfor

basingfacilitiesthatwould con-

tradictsomeof the assurances

thatthe governmenthas madeto

alliedgovernments,”athirdWest-

ern official said.

TheSolomons agreement is

partofabroaderChineseeffort—

not always successful—tobuild

influence in the region. Last

week,China’stopdiplomat,Wang

Yi, completed a10-daytour of the

SouthPacific but failedto achieve

adesired11-nation pactonsecu-

rityand development.Instead of

repeating the Solomons diplo-

matic coup,China’sproposalwas

shelvedat ameeting in Fiji, after

somecountries questioned

whether the deal wouldspark

greater confrontation between

China and rivals in the region.

But it wouldbe amistaketo

takethe rebuffofWangasasign

thatBeijing’s influenceis waning,

the thirdofficial said.“Thereis a

relentless qualitytowhatthe

Chinese are involved in and

they’re justgoing to keep coming.

So anyonewhothinksthis is a

signalthatthey’vebeen blunted

or blocked, that’snot accurate.”

AliceCritesinWashingtonandEva

DouinShenzhen,China,contributed

tothisreport.

dozen,includingCambodia,

Thailand,Singapore,Indonesia,

Pakistan,SriLanka,Tanzaniaand

the United Arab Emirates. Aglob-

al network could“both interfere

withU.S. militaryoperations and

support offensive operations

againstthe UnitedStates,”the

reportsaid.

Thereportalso said thatChi-

nesemilitaryacademicshave as-

serted thatsuch basescan enable

deploymentof militaryforcesin

theater,andintelligencemonitor-

ing of the U.S. military.

TheChineseofficialtold The

Post thatgroundstation technol-

ogyfor aBeiDounavigation satel-

lite systemwas located at the

Chineseportionof ReamNaval

Base.BeiDouis China’shome-

grown alternative to the U.S.

SpaceForce-managed GlobalPo-

sitioningSystem,and has mili-

taryuses includingmissileguid-

ance.Theofficialdid not have

directknowledgeofhow this

system was beingused.

China’smilitaryuses BeiDou’s

high-accuracypositioning and

navigationservicesto facilitate

forcemovementsand precision-

guidedmunitions delivery, ac-

cordingto aMarchreport by the

Pentagon’s DefenseIntelligence

Agency.

China’sglobalbasingeffortis

“notjustaboutpowerprojection

but aboutglobal trackingand

spaceassets,”saidathirdWestern

official. Cambodia’sReam is “one

of theirmostambitiousefforts to

date.”

China’snavyisalready the

world’s largestbynumbers of

vessels.TheU.S.Navyhas 297

battle-forceships—carriers,de-

stroyers,submarines,etc. —ac-

cordingto the CongressionalRe-

searchService,whileChina has

355 and is projected to have 460

by 2030,accordingto lastyear’s

Pentagon report.

But, said AndrewErickson,re-

tarypersonnel,the officialssaid.

China and Vietnamhavelong had

atenserelationship,withHanoi

andBeijingclashingovercom-

petingterritorialclaimsin the

SouthChina Sea for half acen-

tury.

Thesecrecyaroundthe base

appearsto be drivenprimarilyby

Cambodiansensitivitiesand con-

cernaboutadomestic backlash,

the secondofficial said.There is

strongdomestic oppositionto the

ideaof aforeignmilitarybase,

said the official, notingthe con-

stitutionalban on the presenceof

foreignmilitaryinthe country. As

the chairof the 10-memberre-

gionalAssociationof Southeast

Asian Nations(ASEAN)this year,

Cambodiais keen to avoid the

perceptionthatitis,asthe second

official said,“a pawn”ofBeijing.

Cambodiahas beenwalkinga

fine line between accommodat-

ing anddistancing itself from

Beijing.Itwas an “enthusiastic

supporter”ofthe U.S.-ASEAN

specialsummit in Washington

lastmonth,the second official

said.In March, it joined140other

countriesin votingat the U.N.

General Assemblyto condemn

Russia’sinvasion of Ukraine.Bei-

jing abstainedfromthe vote and

has publiclyaffirmeda“no lim-

its” partnership with Moscow

thatincludesopposingfurther

NATO enlargement.At the same

time,Chineseinfluencein Cam-

bodiahas grownrapidlyin recent

years,withChina providingsub-

stantial aid andinvestment, a

trendthathas also causedsome

concernin PhnomPenh about

overrelianceon Beijing.

Beyondits basein Djibouti,

openedin 2017,Beijing is pursu-

ing militaryfacilitiesto support

“naval, air,ground, cyber,and

spacepowerprojection,”the Pen-

tagon reportsaid. It has “likely

consideredanumberof coun-

tries,”itsaid, listing morethana

historicsphere of influence,”one
Western official said.“They view
China’srise thereas partofa
globaltrendtowardamultipolar
worldwhere majorpowersmore
forcefully assert theirinterests
in theirperceivedsphereofin-
fluence.”
Beijing,the official said, is
bankingon the regionbeing“un-
willingor unable to challenge
China’score interests,”and
throughacombinationof coer-
cion, punishment and induce-
ments in the diplomatic, eco-
nomicandmilitaryrealms,be-
lieves it can getcountriesto bend
to its interests. “Essentially,Chi-
na wantsto becomeso powerful
thatthe regionwillgivein to
China’sleadership rather than
facethe consequences[fornot
doingso],”the official said.
TheWall StreetJournal report-
ed in 2019 thatChinahad signed
asecretagreementto allowits
militarytouse the base,citing
U.S. and alliedofficialsfamiliar
with the matter.Beijing and
PhnomPenh deniedthe report,
withCambodianPrime Minister
HunSen denouncingit as “fake
news.”AChineseDefenseMinis-
tryspokesmanat the timealso
denounced whatitcalled “ru-
mors”and said China had merely
beenhelpingwithmilitarytrain-
ingand logistical equipment.
Overthe weekend,however,a
Chineseofficial in Beijingcon-
firmedto TheWashington Post
that“aportion of the base”willbe
usedby “the Chinesemilitary.”
Theofficial denied it was for
“exclusive”use by the military,
sayingthatscientists wouldalso
use the facility. Theofficial added
thatthe Chineseare not involved
in anyactivitieson the Cambodi-
an portion of the base.
Theofficialsaidthe ground-
breaking,scheduledfor Thurs-
day, wastakingplaceandthat
Chineseofficials would attend.
TheChineseambassadorto Cam-
bodiais expected to be present.
Askedfor comment,the Cam-
bodianEmbassyin Washington
saidinastatementthatit“strong-
ly disagreeswiththe contentand
meaningof the reportasitisa
baselessaccusation motivated to
negativelyframe Cambodia’sim-
age.”Itadded thatCambodia
“firmlyadheres”to the nation’s
constitution,whichdoesnot per-
mitforeignmilitarybasesorpres-
ence on Cambodian soil.“The
renovation of the base serves
solelyto strengthenthe Cambodi-
an navalcapacitiesto protectits
maritime integrityand combat
maritimecrimesincludingillegal
fishing,” thestatementsaid.
China’sForeignAffairs Minis-
trydid not replyto arequestfor
comment.
TheWestern officialssaid they
expectthere will be an acknowl-
edgmentat the ceremonyofChi-
nese involvement in financing
andconstructionof the expan-
sion of ReamNavalBase, but not
of plansfor its use by the People’s
Liberation Army. Theexpansion
planswerefinalizedin 2020,and,
significantly,calledfor the Chi-
nesemilitarytohave“exclusive
use of the northernportion of the
base,whiletheirpresencewould
remainconcealed,”asecondoffi-
cial said.
Thetwogovernmentshavetak-
en painsto maskthe presenceof
the ChinesemilitaryatReam,the
official said.Forinstance, foreign
delegationsvisitingthe baseare
permitted accessonlyto preap-
provedlocations.Duringthese
visits,Chinesemilitarypersonnel
at the base wearuniformssimilar
to theirCambodiancounterparts’
or no uniformat alltoavoid
suspicionfromoutsideobservers,
the official said. WhenDeputy
SecretaryofState Wendy Sher-
man visitedthe base duringatrip
to the regionlastyear,her move-
mentswere“veryheavily circum-
scribed,”the official said.
Whileshe was in Cambodia,
Sherman sought clarification
overCambodia’srazingin 2020
of twoU.S.-funded facilitieson
ReamNavalBase,accordingto a
State Department news release.
Thedemolition tookplace after
Cambodia declinedaU.S.offer to
paytorenovateone of them,
accordingtoaPentagonreport
on Chinese militarydevelop-
mentslastyear.Thatmove, the
reportsaid, “suggeststhatCam-
bodiamayhaveinstead accepted
assistancefrom the [People’s Re-
public of China]to developthe
base.”
“Whatwe’ve seenis overtime
is averyclear andconsistent
pattern of trying to obfuscate and
hideboththe end goal as well as
the extentof Chinese military
involvement,”the secondofficial
said.“The keything hereis the
[PLA’s]exclusiveuse of the facili-
ty andhavingaunilateral mili-
tarybase in anothercountry.”
Last year,the “Joint Vietnam-
ese Friendship”building,afacili-
ty builtby the Vietnamese,was
relocated offReam NavalBaseto
avertconflicts withChinesemili-

CHINA FROM A

China said to be secretly building anaval base in Cambodia

TANGCHHINSOTHY/AGENCEFRANCE-PRESSE/GETTYIMAGES

OBTAINEDBYTHEWASHINGTONPOST

TOP:Cambodian navalpersonnel are seenon boatsberthed at ajetty at Ream Naval Basein CambodiainJuly 2019.

ABOVE: TheChinese militaryissecretly buildinganaval facilityfor its exclusive use on thenorthernportionof thebase, according to

Westernofficials,whosay Cambodianand Chinese officials have sought to concealChina’s militarypresencethere.

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THE WASHINGTONPOST

Havingafacilitycapableof hostinglargenaval

vesselsto the west of the SouthChinaSea would

be an importantelementof China’sambitionto

expandits influencein the regionand would

strengthenits presencenear key SoutheastAsian

sea lanes,officialsand analystssaid.