World
China Now Has A Naval Base On The Eastern Edge Of Indian Ocean — Satellite Images Here
The photograph of the pier under construction in 2023 was captured by the US company Black Sky.
China now has access to a naval base — Ream — at the eastern edge of the Indian Ocean in Cambodia.
According to satellite imagery analysed by US-based think-tank, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a consistent presence of two Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) corvettes was observed at the Ream Naval Base.
The Ream Naval Base is situated southeast of the provincial capital, Sihanoukville in Cambodia, in the Gulf of Thailand.
The Cambodian government has vehemently denied these claims. Its erstwhile Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed that the base would be open to visits from all navies.
However, the four-month-long basing of the Chinese naval vessels at the base and the construction of upgraded facilities point to a different picture altogether.
In fact, two Japanese destroyers that wanted to berth at Ream in February this year were denied access and routed to Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, a port close to Ream, while the two Chinese naval ships were berthed at Ream.
The Chinese-funded construction at the naval base began in 2022 that saw, first, the demolishing of buildings made with US and Australian help. A new large pier was constructed at which the two Chinese naval vessels have been docked since last December.
The drydock will provide repair and maintenance facilities. Moreover, various administrative buildings, including warehouses and quarters (that may house troops), have also sprung up at the base.
They have access to yet another base on the western edge of the Indian Ocean in Djibouti in the strategic Horn of Africa from where a majority of the Chinese oil and merchandise trade passes.
PLAN ships have maintained a permanent naval presence in the region owing to the base in Djibouti.
Now Ream is in the same region as the Straits of Malacca, a strategic chokepoint. The Chinese hope that with this naval base they can counter any movement of the Indian Navy intended to cut the sea-line-of-communications in an event of war.
More than 80 per cent of Chinese trade passes through the Malacca Straits and the Chinese fear a closing of the straits by the Indian Navy, supported by the US Navy, if the Chinese ever get into a war-like situation with either India or Taiwan.
Furthermore, the base can support operations against Vietnam with which China fought a deadly skirmish in 1979, and has disputes regarding its maritime boundary.
It is therefore imperative that India speeds up its development of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that could monitor these Chinese naval movements.
