Satellite images show that China’s navy is expanding its presence in Asia. “For me, this is a new form of colonialism,” says expert Sophal Ear.
At the beginning of December 2023, two corvettes of the Chinese marine at a pier at the Ream naval base in southwest Cambodia. The ships had come for a military exercise with the Southeast Asian country, it was said at the time. A routine procedure, actually. But the two ships remained in Cambodia. Until today. This can be seen on, among other places, Satellite images showing the New York Times evaluatedThe US Department of Defense fears that China wants to maintain a permanent presence in Ream. It would be Beijing’s second military base abroad. Sophal Ear, a Cambodian-American political scientist at Arizona State University, has also looked at the satellite images. “The simplest explanation is the most likely,” he says in an interview.
China currently operates a single military base abroad, in Djibouti in East Africa. Satellite images suggest that the country also has access to a naval base in Cambodia. Beijing and Phnom Penh deny this. What do you think?
On the satellite images you can see Chinese ships at a newly built pier. The ships are there for months and hardly move. The Cambodian government claims it has nothing to hide, but then when someone asks questions about the ships they get angry and say it’s none of anyone’s business. That’s schizophrenic. At the same time the government claims any other country can use the base. But nobody does except China. I think in this case things are as they seem. The simplest explanation is the most likely.
Namely?
It may not be a permanent Chinese base. But it is obvious that they are there, perhaps for months or years. Where else, apart from Djibouti, do Chinese ships stay for such long periods?
To person
Sophal Ear is a Cambodian-American political scientist. At the age of ten, he left Cambodia with his mother and four siblings to escape Pol Pot’s genocide. Today, Ear teaches as a professor at Arizona State University and is considered one of the most prominent critics of the Cambodian government.
China’s presence in Cambodia: “A new form of colonialism”
Why would the Cambodian government allow the Chinese navy to use one of its naval bases?
Unlike in the South China Sea, for example, where China is using force to gain access to foreign territory, here the Chinese were invited by Cambodia to use the base. To me, this is a new form of colonialism: you don’t invade another country to take it over. You are invited to come to the country and then take it over. In this case, it is beneficial for both sides – not necessarily for the people of Cambodia, but for the leaders.
What does the government in Phnom Penh hope to achieve from the deal with China?
China supports the leadership and demonstratively supports the regime. The fact that Cambodia’s government is cracking down on the opposition, that it is manipulating elections, that it is disregarding human rights – none of this matters to Beijing.
And why is the base in Cambodia so important for China?
China has the largest navy in the world. Therefore, China needs ways to refuel its ships when they are far from their home ports. In addition, China can launch military operations from a base like the one in Cambodia. Ships can sail from there, and perhaps one day planes can launch from there.
Concern is being expressed, particularly from the United States, about the Chinese presence in Cambodia. Washington itself operates dozens of military bases abroad.
Of course, you could say: If the US operates a hundred or more bases around the world, why should we care about a second Chinese base? A Chinese base would only be problematic if China had bad intentions with it, and the US, conversely, never had bad intentions with its bases. But of course it is not that simple. As far as China is concerned, however, it must be made clear that it has tangible interests in the South China Sea, very close to Cambodia.
“Countries like the Philippines do not want to be under China’s thumb”
China claims a large part of the South China Sea for itself and is therefore repeatedly at odds with other neighboring states, especially the Philippines.
China sees the South China Sea and all of South Asia as its backyard. Just as the USA once did with Latin America: This is our sphere of influence and no one else has any business here. Countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore naturally do not agree with this at all. They do not want to be under Beijing’s thumb.
Are China’s ambitions limited to its “backyard”?
It’s hard to say. What is clear is that China’s New Silk Road covers large parts of the world, all the way to Latin America. And just recently, Chinese fighter jets were spotted off Alaska, along with Russian aircraft. All of this and much more naturally leads to the assumption that China, as the world’s second largest economic power, is also striving for a geopolitical position that corresponds to this status. The problem is that China often does not abide by the rules set by the international community. Instead, Beijing wants to establish its own norms. We can see what this can lead to in the South China Sea, where Beijing simply ignores the claims of the other neighboring countries.
At the same time, Beijing seems very lonely. China may be working with Russia and Cambodia, but the country has no real allies.
Well, China has friends, like Cambodia. And for North Korea, it is something like a patron saint. But China does not have a really deep partnership with other countries based on shared values, such as those maintained by the USA and Great Britain. Even a Chinese NATO doesn’t exist. Who would want to become a member?
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