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Maria Siow

A visit by a United States warship to a Cambodian port built with major Chinese backing has underscored Phnom Penh’s superpower balancing act, but observers say American concerns will linger over the facility’s usage being dominated by Beijing.
The USS Cincinnati arrived on Saturday at Ream Naval Base as part of a mission to strengthen cooperation between Cambodian-US forces and departed from the Preah Sihanouk location on Wednesday, local media reported.
The littoral combat ship is the first American warship to dock at the base since its expansion was completed in April last year, and the first US vessel to visit the kingdom since the USS Savannah stopped at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port in December 2024.
Heavily funded and expanded on by Beijing since 2022, Ream has been transformed to host larger, modern warships with key upgrades including a 300-metre (980-foot) deepwater pier, 5,000-tonne (5,500-ton) dry dock and joint logistics and training centre.
The upgrades have fuelled concerns that Ream is becoming a permanent outpost for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, similar to its base in Djibouti. Chinese naval vessels, specifically corvettes, have maintained a near-constant rotating presence at the base since December 2023.

While acknowledging Chinese funding for upgrades, Phnom Penh has stated that the base is open to vessels from all nations. Apart from the USS Cincinnati’s five-day visit, two Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force vessels, the Bungo and Etazima, visited Ream last April, followed by a Vietnamese People’s Navy vessel shortly after.
These visits, however, might not easily dispel American concerns, said Abdul Rahman Yaacob, non-resident senior fellow at independent think tank Verve Research.
One suspicion among regional military intelligence and possibly shared by the Americans is that China is using Ream as an “intelligence collation centre”, according to Rahman. “[The centre] could monitor maritime activities in the Gulf of Thailand, and the airspace in southern parts of Vietnam,” he said.
Access all areas
By allowing a US warship at Ream, Phnom Penh wanted to “rebut” claims that it was a Chinese-only facility, said Sophal Ear, an associate professor at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management.
“But symbolic access is not the same as structural transparency,” he said. The upgrading, financing and technical control of the base remains overwhelmingly Chinese.
Washington had also maintained that the question was less about one-off visits and more about who could operate there routinely, who controlled command-and-control infrastructure, and whether access was guaranteed rather than granted on an ad hoc basis, Ear said. “So the visit softens the optics but does not settle the underlying issues.”
Chanrith Ngin, an honorary academic and research associate at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said Cambodia had used the visit to showcase its “foreign policy diversification, depicting that it is not in China’s orbit”.


However, that would not completely dispel worries that Beijing held “the privilege to access the base when necessary”, he said, especially given Chinese help in other areas.
Apart from modernising Ream, China has significantly strengthened Cambodia’s naval capabilities by donating advanced vessels such as the Type 056C corvettes, conducting joint military exercises and providing training.
The US warship visit and renewed bilateral military cooperation was part of a “deal” with Washington for its role in securing the ceasefires with Thailand, Ngin said.
During the visit, Admiral Samuel Paparo, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, met Prime Minister Hun Manet and Defence Minister Tea Seiha to discuss strengthening military-to-military engagement.
Both sides also agreed to revive their annual Angkor Sentinel joint military exercises, which had been suspended since 2017.
This week, Hun Manet said his country had accepted US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join as a founding member of the “Board of Peace”, a diplomatic initiative aimed at promoting peacekeeping in the Gaza Strip.
He said the kingdom would join for a three-year term – which carries no financial obligation, instead of the US$1 billion fee that applies to “permanent membership”.
The participation is aimed at goodwill, a commitment to peace and support for peacebuilding, according to the prime minister.
‘Strategic move’
Ngin said joining the board was a “strategic move”, given Washington’s role in securing the ceasefires with Thailand.
Following intense border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia in recent months, Washington has brokered and tried to sustain a ceasefire through direct diplomatic intervention, economic pressure and financial support for regional stability.
“The conflict with Thailand has made Cambodia accept that it is the US, not China, that has the ultimate power to stop the war and ensure that [Bangkok] will not further encroach upon its sovereignty,” Ngin said, adding that losing more land to its neighbour will “jeopardise” the legitimacy of Cambodia’s ruling party.
However, it does not mean Cambodia is distancing itself from its economically strong neighbour. “This is just the hedging strategy that Cambodia has long employed, balancing and playing the two superpowers for its own stability and development,” Ngin said.

Since Cambodia has opted for the “no-cost version” in joining the board, Ear said membership cost little but signalled goodwill towards Washington at a time of sharpening US-China competition.
“Cambodia is unlikely to gain tangible influence from participation, but it avoids the reputational downside of being visibly absent,” he said. “Combined with the warship visit, the move reflects Phnom Penh’s familiar strategy of showing balance rather than any major pivot.”
Cambodia’s efforts to improve ties with the US likely stemmed from its disappointment in China for not influencing Thailand to refrain from continued attacks in the border row, Rahman said.
Beijing is Bangkok’s primary economic partner and arms supplier. Thailand was also buying armoured vehicles and submarines from China.
So a major worry in Cambodia was whether Beijing would prioritise its relations with Bangkok above Phnom Penh, he said.
“Therefore, a diversification of defence partnership rather than primarily relying on China is a sound strategy,” he said. “Cambodia’s policy towards the US now could be seen through that context.”


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Will US warship visit calm fears of ‘intelligence outpost’ at Cambodian naval base?

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A soldier stands guard next to Prasat Ta Khwai on January 20. The temple was the site of clashes between Thailand and Cambodia in December last year. Photo: Reuters

Members of the Cambodian navy welcome US warship USS Cincinnati at Ream Naval Base’s pier in Sihanoukville on Saturday. Photo: AP

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The USS Cincinnati is the first US warship to dock at Ream Naval Base since its China-funded expansion was completed in April last year


The USS Cincinnati is the first US warship to dock at Ream Naval Base since its China-funded expansion was completed in April last year.


Will US warship visit calm fears of ‘intelligence outpost’ at Cambodian naval base?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The USS Cincinnati is the first US warship to dock at Ream Naval Base since its China-funded expansion was completed in April last year

The USS Cincinnati is the first US warship to dock at Ream Naval Base since its China-funded expansion was completed in April last year