China's military presence in Cambodia's Ream naval base is showing signs of being permanent: Report

The spectre of the Chinese military in Southeast Asian countries is back again, with reports suggesting that a base in Cambodia is seeing a permanentpresence of its Navy.

Over the past few years, satellite imagery has shown brisk construction activity in the Ream naval base. Now, reports citing the pictures say that Chinese Navy ships appeared to be docked there on a more permanent basis.

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The images showed two Chinese 1,500-tonne warships, the A56 corvettes, and the construction of a new pier that can dock larger vessels, with Chinese funding, said a report in BBC.

The Navy of Cambodia, whose government has been friendly with China in recentyears, insists that the Ream base is open to all friendly navies while maintaining that it sticks to a ban on permanent foreign military presence in line with the constitution.

BBC, citing analysts said the construction of new infrastructure of the Ream base such as a dry dock, administrative buildings and other facilities appears to be made more for military than civilian use.

Ream base was once backed with US military aid until 2017 when the new government shifted loyalties to China. Earlier, the US had conducted joint military drills with Cambodia, but now, Cambodia has the Golden Dragon exercises with China.

Cambodia's tilt towards China is seen as a move to counterbalance its larger neighbours Vietnam and Thailand, but the government has insisted that the Chinese military presence is for training purposes only, andtemporary.

Vietnam, Thailand and other countries in the region - several having territorial disputes with China over the South China Sea - worry that China is engaging in a strategic encirclement of the Southeast Asian region.

The US is also worried about the Chinese footprint in the region, said the BBC report.

It noted that China now has more warshipsthan the US but has only one overseas military base in Africa's Djibouti, as compared to the750 American bases including one in Djibouti.

The BBC cited experts who believe that more than military might, China may be using the base for intelligence gathering and monitoring of the region.

It said, citing analysts, thatChina would eventually have a global network of bases, or civilian ports that it can use as bases and Ream in Cambodia could be one of the first such facilities.

The report said Indian and American strategists are more worried about the possible Chinese base in the Indian Ocean region, in ports like Sri Lanka's Hambantota or Gwadar in Pakistan. Both have gotten Chinese assistance and are being used for civilian purposes, for now.

(With inputs from agencies)