Cambodia signs a secret deal with China
It gives China’s navy exclusive rights to a naval base
That could help the Chinese military control
a critical shipping lane in Southeast Asia.
Welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
China has signed a secret deal for exclusive rights
to use part of a Cambodian naval base called Ream.
Cambodia is here.
Ream is here.
Now if the Chinese Communist Party’s military,
the People’s Liberation Army,
was really building a navy base in Cambodia—
that would be a big deal.
But don’t worry!
Because last November,
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen totally denied it!
Of course, it would be super embarrassing if, say,
foreign media found out about it.
Wait... technically, it’s not a *Chinese* military base.
The pact simply gives China *exclusive rights* to part of a *Cambodian* naval base.
Still embarrassing, though.
That’s why Cambodia’s prime minister is doubling down,
and denying that report,
calling it “the worst fake news against Cambodia.”
Which is yet another lie, because the worst fake news against Cambodia
is that the prime minister actually “won” the last election.
It’s so much easier to win after you’ve thrown out all of your opposition.
Also, the naval base thing happens to be true.
Unlike free and fair elections in Cambodia.
So what’s the big deal about a Chinese navy presence in Cambodia?
Well, as I mentioned, that navy base is here.
It’s on the Gulf of Thailand.
And that means easy access to the Strait of Malacca.
And that’s the most important shipping lane
between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
The Pentagon believes it's part of Chinese regime’s plan
to boost its ability to project military power around the globe.
And the US is “‘concerned that any steps by the Cambodian government
to invite a foreign military presence in Cambodia’
would disturb regional peace and stability.”
Although I’m sure if that “foreign military presence” were the US,
the US might reconsider its concerns.
Not that that the Chinese military being there is really equivalent.
Especially considering that the Chinese military is run by the Communist Party,
which supported the previous Cambodian Khmer Rouge regime—
even as it murdered one quarter of Cambodia’s population in the 1970s.
Anyway, the base would be Beijing's first dedicated facility
on the Southeast Asian mainland for naval staging.
In the navy!
You can sail the seven seas...
In the navy!
That is not naval staging.
That is what happens when our graphics guy spends too much time on YouTube.
“Naval staging” is where you put navy units,
aircraft and warships some place where they can be prepared
for attacking or invading people.
A former U.S. State Department official says having a naval base in Cambodia
gives the People’s Liberation Army Navy a leg up in all of Southeast Asia.
Because “You have all of a sudden mainland Southeast Asia
potentially sitting behind a defensive Chinese military perimeter.”
And another U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal
that a Chinese presence at Ream would “greatly complicate”
the ability of the U.S. to help Taiwan if Beijing decides to attack.
The Chinese Communist Party opened its first official military outpost overseas
in the African nation of Djibouti just two years ago.
That made Djibouti “the linchpin in China’s belt and road plan."
The Belt and Road is the Chinese Communist Party’s plan
to build a sprawling network of land and sea links throughout Asia,
the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
For trade.
And as a way for the Party to project power and influence across the world.
The Chinese navy’s exclusive use of the naval base in Ream,
Cambodia is part of what the Pentagon sees as the Chinese regime’s quest
for a global network of military and dual-use sites.
Djibouti was the blueprint for "mixing commercial and military interests."
And it just so happens that the Chinese navy
is also allegedly building a navy base in Pakistan,
although they deny it.
Where have I heard that before?
Chinese state-backed companies also lease deep water ports
in Sri Lanka and Myanmar-slash-Burma,
but the Chinese regime also denies those will ever be naval bases.
Well, as an Australian intelligence official said,
“We have some concern that China is using the same playbook [in Cambodia they]
used in the South China Sea,
creating facts on the ground until such time that it is too late for anyone to object.”
Like when the Chinese regime built those fake islands,
but then denied they would be used for the military.
Then they surprised everyone with landing strips
missile batteries
and long-range nuclear bombers.
I’m sure those are just civilian landing strips,
civilian missile batteries,
and civilian long-range nuclear bombers.
And if you think the naval base is Ream is a problem,
it might be only the beginning.
The U.S. and its allies are also lobbying Cambodia not to let China’s military
use a new airport being built just 40 miles away.
An airport being built by a Chinese company on a 99-year lease.
Don’t worry, though—the company denies it’ll be used by China’s military.
But if the rest of the world believes that,
after all the denials about the Cambodian naval base,
then we’re the ones who are really in denial.
So what do you think about the Chinese regime establishing
its first military outpost in Southeast Asia?
Leave your comments below.
And before we go,
I’ll answer a question from one of our supporters on Patreon:
Robert W Eischen asks:
“Has China become a fascist and imperialistic Nation?”
Whaaat, that’s crazy!
If you accuse the Chinese Communist Party
of being fascist and imperialistic,
they’ll totally deny it.
Thanks for your question, Robert.
And you, too, can be like Robert
and support China Uncensored as we make episodes like this.
Visit Patreon.com/China Uncensored and pledge a dollar or more per episode.
And you’ll have a chance to get your question answered on the show.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching China Uncensored.