By Thai Newsroom Reporters
A COUPLE OF CHINESE CORVETTES have recently departed Ream naval base in Cambodia’s Preah Sihanouk province, a navy source said today (Jan.17).
After a month-long docking at Ream naval base on an eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand, the Chinese navy vessels have left for an undisclosed destination, either in or passing the disputed South China Sea.
Sailors attached to the Chinese corvettes had reportedly participated in naval training courses provided for Cambodian navy officers at Ream naval base since early last month.
Seen aboard the Chinese warships were a number of Cambodian sailors paying “a visit” during the joint training programme at Ream naval base, according to the navy source.
Nevertheless, Phnom Penh had categorically denied the construction and development of the Cambodian naval base had been largely funded by Beijing.
The Cambodian navy currently deploys Chinese-built, Koh Svay-class and Koh Ruesay-class patrol boats, among others, at Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar navy headquarters and Preah Sihanouk’s naval base.
No frigates or larger warships have been reported to be currently deployed by the Cambodian navy.
Last month, Ream naval base commander Rear Adm. Mey Dina had reportedly visited Vietnam’s naval command on Phu Quoc island, about 224 kilometres south of Ream naval base on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand and about 550 kilometres south of the Thai navy’s Sattahip naval base in Chonburi.
Vietnam has not only been considerably concerned over Chinese navy forces ubiquitously plying the South China Sea whilst building military installations on coral reefs around Spratly Islands but also China’s naval presence and “friendship-based” developments in the neighbouring Cambodia.
Laying mutually contradictory claims of territorial integrity over South China Sea’s submerged atolls are Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and China.
Tensions in the South China Sea have escalated over the last several months, highlighted by China’s Coast Guard ships firing high-pressure water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard vessels off Scarborough Shoal.
During joint maritime patrols between the United States’ Carrier Strike Group 1 and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force, South Korean and Philippine navies in the South China Sea earlier this month, some Chinese navy vessels were spotted on a trail but no untoward incident was reported.
The Carrier Strike Group 1, part of the US Indo-Pacific Command, is led by Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and accompanied by cruiser USS Princeton (CG-59) and destroyers USS Kidd (DDG-100) and USS Sterett (DDG-104).
CAPTIONS:
Top: Two Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy corvettes dock at the Ream naval base in Cambodia. Photo: Cambodia Defence Minister and published by CNN
Front Page: Tea Banh, former Cambodian defence minister, reviews Chinese naval officers on board a Chinese corvette at the Ream naval base. Photo: Cambodia Defence Minister and published by CNN
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