(19 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sihanoukville, Cambodia – 19 May 2024
1. Wide of Chinese amphibious warfare ship Jingangshan in dock
2. Various of ship
3. Various of Chinese Ambassador Wang Wentian meeting naval officers on quayside
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Wang Wentian, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia:
“Where the Chinese navy goes we bring friendship, we bring cooperation. No others.”
5. Wide of Chinese sailors on deck of ship
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Wang Wentian, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia:
“The cooperation between the two armies – China and Cambodia – is conducive to the security of both countries and to the security of the region.”
7. Various of ambassador and officers watching dragon dance
8. Various of people visiting ship
STORYLINE:
Two Chinese warships docked at a commercial port in Cambodia on Sunday, ahead of joint naval exercises between the two countries.
The Jingangshan amphibious warfare ship and the Qijiguang training ship sailed into the Sihanoukville Port as onlookers waved Cambodian and Chinese flags from the piers.
The port is north of the Ream Naval Base, where China has funded a broad expansion project that has been carefully watched by the United States and others over concerns it could become a new outpost for the Chinese navy on the Gulf of Thailand.
The Gulf is adjacent to the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety, and would give easy access to the Malacca Strait, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.
China’s ambassador to Cambodia, Wang Wentian, dismissed concerns about Ream, telling reporters at Sihanoukville the Chinese navy bring nothing but "friendship" and "cooperation."
“The cooperation between the two armies, between China and Cambodia, is conducive to the security of both countries and the security of the region,” Wang said.
The Jingangshan and the Qijiguang are due to take part in naval exercises from the Ream base from May 24-27, along with two Chinese corvettes that have been docked at Ream’s new pier for more than five months.
The joint training is the naval component of the ongoing Golden Dragon exercises, which are regularly held between the two countries.
Controversy over Ream Naval Base initially arose in 2019 when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of a reputed agreement seen by U.S. officials would allow China 30-year use of the base, where it would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships.
Cambodia’s then-Prime Minister Hun Sen denied there was such an agreement. He pointed out that Cambodia’s constitution does not allow foreign military bases to be established on its soil, but said visiting ships from all nations are welcome.
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