China Now Has A Naval Base On The Eastern Edge Of Indian Ocean — Satellite Images Here

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.

Since 2019, rumours have gained ground that the Chinese have been given access to the naval base facilities by the Cambodian government, and the Chinese are funding the infrastructure upgrades of the port facilities.

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 expanded facilities include the construction of a drydock and a wharf, indicating plans for berthing even larger-sized vessels.

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.

Now with these revelations, it can be said with certainty that Ream Naval Base is the second Chinese base at the edge of the Indian Ocean Region.

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.

This base, apart from berthing naval ships and coupled with the Kyaukphyu Port in Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal, will also support Chinese naval presence in the eastern Indian Ocean and in the Bay of Bengal.

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.