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China strikes secret deal to allow armed forces at Cambodian naval base -WSJ

Published 07/22/2019, 08:43 AM
Updated 07/22/2019, 08:50 AM
China strikes secret deal to allow armed forces at Cambodian naval base -WSJ

WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) - China will be able to place
armed forces at a Cambodian naval base under a secret agreement
the two nations have reached, the Wall Street Journal reported
on Sunday.
The agreement, reached this spring but not made public,
gives China exclusive access to part of Cambodia's Ream Naval
Base on the Gulf of Thailand, reported the Journal, citing U.S.
and allied officials familiar with the matter.
Such an arrangement would give China an enhanced ability to
assert contested territorial claims and economic interests in
the South China Sea, challenging U.S. allies in Southeast Asia.
Chinese and Cambodian officials denied such an agreement
existed, according to the Journal.
In a statement, the State Department urged Cambodia to
reject such an arrangement, saying the nation had a
"constitutional commitment to its people to pursue an
independent foreign policy."
"We are concerned that any steps by the Cambodian
government to invite a foreign military presence in Cambodia
would threaten the coherence and centrality of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in coordinating regional
developments, and disturb peace and stability in Southeast
Asia," the statement added.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Defense Department suggested
China may be attempting to gain a military foothold in Cambodia
in a letter to Cambodia asking why the nation had turned down an
offer to repair a naval base.

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