Defence Spokesperson: Docking of Two Chinese Vessels is for Joint Military Drill

The docking of two Chinese naval vessels in Preah Sihanouk province is to prepare for a joint military drill dubbed "Golden Dragon" between the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) scheduled for mid-May. This is not a Chinese military base in Cambodia, underlined H.E. Chhum Socheat, Spokesperson of the Cambodian Ministry of National Defence in a Facebook post this evening in response to a foreign radio station which has recently continued to completely exaggerate the fact by accusing the presence of the two Chinese naval vessels at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base of "China's military base in Cambodia and the second Chinese military base in the world." This foreign radio's report is a complete distortion of the actual situation and is intended to mislead the national and international public into misunderstanding the activities and sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cambodia, he added. The spokesperson further explained that the presence of the two Chinese vessels is an agreement between the Cambodian and Chinese Ministries of National Defence, with China training the Cambodian naval forces on technical skills in the use of ships as well as other new technologies, which contributes to modernising the Cambodian Navy as the two countries are comprehensive strategic partners and are building a Community of Common Destiny. Besides, he continued, the docking is a test of the Ream port, being built by the Chinese aid, and Cambodia also plans to buy such ships to serve the military in the future, not a Chinese military base in Cambodia as reported by some foreign media with political tendencies. The previous and current Royal Governments of Cambodia has repeatedly stated that the Kingdom does not allow any foreign military bases on her territory and that the country does not act contrary to its Constitution. The 'Golden Dragon' military exercise, the 6th of its kind, will be held under the theme "Joint Counter-Terrorism Operation and Humanitarian Relief." Source: Agence Kampuc hea Presse