A US Navy warship arrived in Cambodia on Monday, the first visit in eight years to a country that is a close ally of China in Southeast Asia. Cambodia’s government has suggested the port call reflects an improvement in often tense relations.
The USS Savannah docked at the port of Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Thailand for a five-day visit. The Savannah, classified as a Littoral Combat Ship, has a crew of 103.
“It’s great to be back and bring back the American presence here after eight years,” the ship’s commander, Daniel A. Sledz, told reporters in brief remarks. He received a bouquet of flowers from a Cambodian officer and shook hands with a row of colleagues.
The United States has had rocky relations with Cambodia for years, criticizing the government for political repression and human rights abuses. There are particular concerns about close ties with China, which Washington fears will gain exclusive access to a Cambodian naval base on the Gulf of Thailand, not far from where Savannah docked.
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Recently, steps appear to have been taken to improve relations.
Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense said last week that the visit was planned following a US request for a port call, and that it would “strengthen and expand ties of friendship and promote bilateral cooperation between the two countries.”
Two days earlier, the Cambodian Foreign Ministry noted “positive momentum of bilateral ties and cooperation” and “the revitalization of military-to-military cooperation” between Cambodia and the US.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Cambodia in early June, where he held talks with Prime Minister Hun Manet and other senior officials. He also met with Cambodian alumni of U.S. military training programs. Hun Manet himself graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point.
The U.S. Department of Defense said at the time that Austin’s discussions covered “opportunities to strengthen the U.S.-Cambodia bilateral defense relationship in support of regional peace and security” and other matters.
But Washington remains concerned that the upgrade of the Cambodian Ream naval base near Sihanoukville will serve Beijing’s strategic interests in the region.
The US and others are suggesting that the Chinese navy establish a permanent base in Ream, which would give it easier access to the Strait of Malacca, a crucial shipping route between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
The controversy over Chinese activities at Ream initially arose in 2019 when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of an agreement seen by US officials would give China 30 years of use of the base, where it could station military personnel , store weapons and warships.
The Cambodian government has denied such an agreement or any intention to grant China special privileges at the base, although Beijing has funded its expansion.
Washington has said the Ream base could give Beijing a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand, near the disputed South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety.
Chinese warships docked at the 350-meter-high pier for the first time in December last year. Two docked at the port of Sihanoukville in May as part of Beijing’s largest joint military exercises with Cambodia.
China’s military unveiled machine gun-equipped ‘robodogs’ this year during annual joint exercises known as the ‘Golden Dragon’ exercises.
Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said 27 U.S. Navy ships have visited the country since 2007, although the visit by the USS Savannah was the first port of call in eight years.
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On Monday, Beijing responded to the US warship’s visit to Sihanoukville, saying that “such exchanges and cooperation in security and defense should help promote regional peace and stability, rather than the opposite.”
In September, Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said China is giving its navy two warships of the type it has had moored there for months. China will hand over two newly built Type 56 corvettes – smaller ships typically used for coastal patrol – next year at the earliest after Cambodia requested Chinese support.
The Cambodian Defense Ministry said the Savannah’s port visit will include “a working meeting with the commander of the Ream Naval Base,” as well as meetings with provincial officials and “a friendship sports competition between the crews of the U.S. Navy and the Cambodian Navy.”
Cambodian Navy Captain Mean Savoeun, deputy commander of Ream Naval Base, was among those who welcomed the Savannah to the dock in Sihanoukville. He said he was pleased with the good relationship between Cambodia and the US, especially with their navies, and believed the visit will lead to closer diplomatic cooperation.
The Littoral Combat Ship USS Savannah (LCS 28) was commissioned in 2022 and is the sixth ship named in honor of the city of Savannah, according to the U.S. Navy.
“The LCS is a fast, agile, mission-oriented platform designed to operate in near-shore environments while capable of performing tasks in the open ocean,” the Navy said. “The LCS can support forward presence, maritime security, sea control and deterrence.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
