Satellite photos show rapid construction at military base where US has 'serious concerns' about China's presence

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Re: Satellite photos show rapid construction at military base where US has 'serious concerns' about China's presence

Post by Doc67 »

US Military presence in the area, mostly official US bases, but some are areas within bases of the home nations so they are hiding in plain sight.

Image

**Afghanistan bases now under new management.

Netflix documentary is worth a watch - "The coming war on China". A lot about how the US blew up Bikini Atol in the Marshal Islands during the 1950's and everyone there got cancer afterwards. Nice.

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81467165? ... Results%2C
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Re: Satellite photos show rapid construction at military base where US has 'serious concerns' about China's presence

Post by Apollo91881 »

Doc67 wrote: Thu Jun 09, 2022 3:50 pm US Military presence in the area, mostly official US bases, but some are areas within bases of the home nations so they are hiding in plain sight.

Image

**Afghanistan bases now under new management.
There's probably a lot more supply storage than base at many of those places.
If they are anything like the Afghan ones, easy enough to roll over as well.
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Re: Satellite photos show rapid construction at military base where US has 'serious concerns' about China's presence

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Opinion piece published in Foreign Policy

Argument: An expert's point of view on a current event.
Washington Should Chill About China’s Cambodia Base
Americans need to recognize their own ugly history in Southeast Asia.
By Blake Herzinger, a civilian Indo-Pacific defense policy specialist and U.S. Navy Reserve officer.
June 10, 2022, 2:16 PM

Reports of a planned Chinese military base in Cambodia have been swirling around Southeast Asia for several years. On June 8, Cambodian and Chinese officials broke ground on an expansion of Ream Naval Base, with plans for new buildings as well as other improvements to the base’s port facility. Both sides continue to deny that the secretive deal includes any concession for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to use the facility, a claim that is being loudly challenged by U.S. policymakers who believe it will be used as a forward base for Beijing’s navy.

But even if the base ends up being used by the PLAN, hysterical moves—such as scolding the government and sanctioning its officials—are an overreaction that is only the latest in a long line of U.S. failures to interact productively with partners in Southeast Asia. It’s a particularly tone-deaf attitude when considering the United States’ own legacy in Cambodia. Although there are likely parts of this deal hidden from the public, this arrangement highlights a common shortfall in Washington’s Asia policy, namely attacking countries for making bilateral deals with China without putting a credible offer of its own on the table.

Ream Naval Base is well known to U.S. forces and was the site of multiple bilateral exercises between the U.S. Navy and Royal Cambodian Navy between 2010 and 2016. In fact, the United States had funded and built a facility for the Royal Cambodian Navy’s use on Ream Naval Base in 2012. However, as bilateral relations deteriorated and whispers of Chinese involvement on the base began to circulate, Cambodian forces demolished the structures in 2020.

The furor in Washington over this new arrangement is far greater than is warranted. For starters, Cambodian officials from across the government (including Cambodian Prime Minister HE) have repeatedly cited the fact that Cambodia’s constitution prohibits the permanent basing of foreign troops on Cambodian soil. There is little reason to assume that Cambodian leaders would agree to Ream Naval Base being used for Chinese power projection in Southeast Asia or combat operations in the region. Any potential arrangement would be like the United States’ own arrangement for support in Singapore, which hosts hundreds of U.S. military personnel as well as dozens of ship and aircraft visits every year, but it would never allow its soil to be used as a launch pad for attacks against other Southeast Asian states or China.
...

The portion of Ream Naval Base identified by the Washington Post as being partitioned off for China’s use is miniscule. Measuring a purported 0.3 square kilometers (or 0.12 square miles), the area is hardly a Chinese Pearl Harbor in the Gulf of Thailand. A few details about the upgrade emerged at the groundbreaking ceremony: new buildings, a hospital, and a pier with space for two ships. New repair facilities will be added—including a workshop, dry dock, and slipway—and Chinese forces will train Cambodian sailors in the finer points of ship repair, provide them with new uniforms, and repair some of the Royal Cambodian Navy’s existing fleet. But these facilities are, according to the Cambodians, for their own use, not the PLAN’s. Even if the PLAN established a presence on the base, it would be ringed in by a U.S. ally and two Southeast Asian states that are increasingly wary of the Chinese navy: Vietnam and Malaysia.

Too many U.S. policymakers seem flummoxed about how things got to this point. To be sure, HE is a remorseless dictator who has cleaved closer and closer to Beijing as his actions at home have become more openly authoritarian. But the Cambodian government wants development finance, and China has provided it. And Washington appears to still be struggling to grasp the import of its own historical legacy in Cambodia.
Full article, long read: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/10/ca ... a-bombing/
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Re: Satellite photos show rapid construction at military base where US has 'serious concerns' about China's presence

Post by newkidontheblock »

Interesting read. Most of the article is hidden behind a paywall, so thanks for posting it.

My thoughts. Author thinks that the rule of law, aka, ‘Cambodian Constitution’ will prevent PLAN expansion, and it will just be a port of call, like the US Navy when the US Navy visits Singapore.

Except the US Navy isn’t building repair, storage, and training facilities in Singapore.

Cambodia has always been close to the PRC. Even the King spends his vacations and gets his healthcare there.

Map of bases includes many bases of other countries that are Allies. Replace United States with Canada or Great Britain and the same claim can be made.

During the War of 1812, the Secretary of War absolutely believed that the British would never invade Washington, DC. He forbid any defense of any sort because it might ‘provoke’ the British. The British landed troops, then marched right in and burned the White House.

Unfortunately, ‘Walk softly and carry a big stick’ is the best deterrent.

Just my opinions.
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Re: Satellite photos show rapid construction at military base where US has 'serious concerns' about China's presence

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Opinion Piece

Raisina Debates
Jun 29 2022
The possibility of a Chinese base in Cambodia: Reality, rationale, and impact
Premesha Saha
If a Chinese-funded military base were to come to Cambodia, it will affect regional security in the Southeast Asian region.

Reports of a Chinese-funded and built military base in Cambodia near the disputed South China Sea have been doing the rounds for some years now. This got more steam after a report from The Washington Post recently, stated that “unnamed western officials are saying the new facilities at Cambodia’s Ream base—strategically located on the Gulf of Thailand—were being built for the exclusive use of the Chinese navy.” In 2019 also, The Washington Post had reported that “China had signed a secret agreement to allow its military and armed forces to use exclusively a part of Ream Naval Base, which is located on Cambodia’s southern coast facing the Gulf of Thailand. ” At that time, the US officials had pointed out, “that the site—while stopping short of being a full-scale Chinese base—would give Beijing its first dedicated naval staging facility in Southeast Asia.”

...
[Conclusion]
Though Cambodia–China ties appear to be very strong, there is hardly any reason, especially considering the provision in the Cambodian constitution to believe that Cambodia would give a nod to Ream Naval Base being used by the Chinese military for power projection or combat operations in the region. Additionally, the portion of the base offered to China as identified in reports is 0.3 square kilometers (or 0.12 square miles), and this is miniscule and it has been repeatedly mentioned by Cambodian officials that the facilities being built is for the use of the Cambodians and not the PLA. Since if a Chinese base is developed, this will have an impact on peace and security in Southeast Asia as a whole, and therefore, it seems hard to comprehend if Cambodia will want to risk its relations with its ASEAN partners.

Full article: https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/ ... -cambodia/
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