Sihanoukville Not Best Strategic Spot for Chinese Naval Base: The Diplomat

• 9 April 2021
• Local News
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An article by The Diplomat has recently asserted that Sihanoukville’s Ream bay is not the ideal strategic spot for a Chinese naval base. The article was written by local analyst and researcher Chen Heang where he provided four key arguments to support his claim.

1) Ream Bay is not deep enough to undertake major naval actions
Large naval vessels generally require deep water to operate, but Kampong Som Bay is only 5 to 10 metres deep. This is very shallow compared to other parts of the Gulf of Thailand, with an average depth of about 50 metres. Therefore, when it comes to major naval actions, Kampong Som Bay is not an ideal place.

2) Cambodia is not a strategic spot to patrol waterway traffic
Some claimed that the main reason China allegedly wants to set up a naval base in Cambodia is to serve as a stopover in controlling and monitoring maritime activities from and to the Straits of Malacca. However, according to Heang’s analysis, Ream Bay does not seem to be a suitable spot since the location is quite far out from the Malacca Strait. Besides, if China wants to monitor maritime activities in the Gulf of Thailand or the South China Sea, it could easily be done from their existing base on the Fiery Cross Reef of the Spratly Islands. (See map)

3) Sihanoukville is no longer a sweet spot given the uncertainty of Thailand’s Kra canal
Another rationale for why China allegedly intends to set up a base in Sihanoukville is that Kampong Som Bay will soon become a strategic location for trade after Thailand builds the Kra canal. However, the Thai government has considered replacing the canal project with the ‘Land Bridge’ project. Given so, Mr Heang believes that there is no more incentive for China to deploy its navy in Cambodia.

4) A navy base in Cambodia not a smart move given close ties between Thailand, Vietnam, and the US
Recently, Thailand and Vietnam have shown quite close ties with the United States. Thus, the plan to locate a navy base in the middle of Thailand and Vietnam would only provide these two nations with extra incentive to cut security deals with the United States in response, which would lead to further competition for China.

The claims raised by The Diplomat are in line with statements from the Cambodian government, which has repeatedly denied that Cambodia has not signed any secret agreements with China to set up a navy base.

Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said in June last year that Cambodia does not allow a foreign military presence in its territory and Cambodia neither does it place military in any foreign countries.

The allegation of a secret deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal last year shortly before Cambodia decided to demolish the Ream military base, an old US-funded Defence Facility in Ream for new development. (Read more)

Apart from the controversy in Ream Bay, Dara Sakor district in Koh Kong province has been another talking point for years. The multi-billion-dollar Dara Sakor Seashore Resort developed by Union Development has to date been subject to plenty of criticism that it was built to serve as a Chinese military base (read more).

Once again, the Cambodian government has repeatedly rejected the allegation, claiming the project is for tourism purposes only. (Read more)

Photo Credit: Baliyan’s insight IAS

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