Media reports consumed with Ream Naval Base controversy are missing the point on significantly improved US-Cambodia relations
by Vithoureakborndidh Chou June 3, 2024
Asia Times
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin bids farewell to Cambodian Secretary of State Gen. Neang Phat at the conclusion of the 9th Association of Southeast Asia Nations Defense Ministers (ASEAN) Meeting-Plus in Siem Reap, Cambodia, Wednesday, November 23, 2022. Photo: Chad McNeeley / US Department of Defense
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s upcoming visit to Cambodia, scheduled for June 4, marks the first official bilateral trip by an American defense chief in recent years.
Predictably, Western media have already oversimplified Austin’s visit by focusing solely on the controversy surrounding China’s role in upgrading the Ream Naval Base. In the singular context of Sino-US rivalry for regional influence, it is easy to portray China’s assistance in modernizing Cambodia’s navy and port infrastructure as an attempt to establish a military presence in the country.
That narrative disregards Cambodia’s agency and the genuine challenges the country faces in upgrading its military and procuring modern naval vessels and equipment to keep pace with neighbors like Thailand and Vietnam. In that contest, Cambodia has logically turned to China – one of the few viable sources for such acquisitions at prices Phnom Penh can afford.
By raising the Ream Naval Base issue, which Phnom Penh has repudiated for years on the basis the Cambodian constitution bars the presence of foreign troops on Cambodian soil, Austin would risk irritating his Cambodian hosts. But it’s not clear to many observers that the naval base controversy will be atop his agenda.
Predictably, Western media have already oversimplified Austin’s visit by focusing solely on the controversy surrounding China’s role in upgrading the Ream Naval Base. In the singular context of Sino-US rivalry for regional influence, it is easy to portray China’s assistance in modernizing Cambodia’s navy and port infrastructure as an attempt to establish a military presence in the country.
That narrative disregards Cambodia’s agency and the genuine challenges the country faces in upgrading its military and procuring modern naval vessels and equipment to keep pace with neighbors like Thailand and Vietnam. In that contest, Cambodia has logically turned to China – one of the few viable sources for such acquisitions at prices Phnom Penh can afford.
By raising the Ream Naval Base issue, which Phnom Penh has repudiated for years on the basis the Cambodian constitution bars the presence of foreign troops on Cambodian soil, Austin would risk irritating his Cambodian hosts. But it’s not clear to many observers that the naval base controversy will be atop his agenda.
Austin’s visit will take place amid restored and stabilized US-Cambodia relations, which hit a nadir after the suspension of the Angkor Sentinel joint military exercise in 2017. Those strained relations deteriorated more with the withdrawal of scholarships for Cambodian cadets studying at the US Service Academy in 2021.
But ties are arguably back on an upswing, enabling the diplomatic environment for Austin to visit. The visit also occurs as Cambodia is about to assume the role of the coordinating country for the US-ASEAN Dialogue from 2024-2027.
Before stepping down, long-serving prime minister Hun Sen had taken a more conciliatory approach toward Washington to lay a less contentious foundation for his son, the newly elected Prime Minister Hun Manet, who is a West Point Academy graduate.
His first move was to show a goodwill gesture to Washington by allowing the US defense attache in Phnom Penh to inspect the Ream Naval Base as requested in 2021. Although the first inspection went awry and became contentious over a last-minute request by the US official to visit facilities not on the original itinerary, Phnom Penh showed a willingness to open the base to US inspection.
More recently, Cambodia joined the US in co-sponsoring UN resolutions to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At the end of Cambodia’s 2022 ASEAN chairmanship, Hun Sen made his first-ever visit to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, which was widely perceived as a conciliatory move toward mending relations.
Former US Ambassador to Cambodia W Patrick Murphy was instrumental in stabilizing bilateral relations during his tenure, which over time saw relations move from fewer recriminations and more dialogue.
Those State Department efforts have arguably laid the groundwork for the Pentagon to engage in more substantive dialogue, potentially reviving defense cooperation during Austin’s visit.
The two sides will also be compelled to work together through Cambodia’s coordinating role for US-ASEAN Dialogue Relations (2024-2027), which begins in July. In this capacity, Cambodia will facilitate every dialogue and co-chair relevant meetings between ASEAN and the US on areas of common interest.
Under the ASEAN-US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework, for instance, the US will need Cambodia’s facilitation to bridge and where possible harmonize the priorities of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy with those of the ASEAN Outlook for Indo-Pacific.
While Austin’s true agenda in Phnom Penh is unclear, it’s telling that he chose to visit Cambodia after his participation at the Shangri-La Dialogue defense talk shop in Singapore, where he notably met with his Chinese counterpart and agreed to reopen hotlines of communication to keep tensions from spiraling into confrontation.
But despite the noise amplified by Western media around Ream Naval Base, the conditions are ripe for Austin and Hun Manet to reestablish common ground in defense relations and lift bilateral relations to higher ground.
Vithoureakborndidh Chou is a J William Fulbright Scholar and independent foreign affairs researcher based in Cambodia.
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