Satellite Photos Show China's Dramatic Progress at Foreign Naval Base

China has made significant progress with construction work at a naval base in Cambodia, according to an open-source analyst.

The new construction at the Ream Naval base has come under scrutiny after media reports suggested China was building a military base at Cambodia's coastal city of Sihanoukville. China has said it is helping to upgrade the base for the Cambodian navy, but has said it is not building its own base there.

Tom Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submariner and defense analyst, published satellite images showing China's progress in building its new base at Ream in Cambodia. The imagery, dated January 15 and obtained from Planet Labs, shows the construction progress at the new naval base in Cambodia. Shugart first shared the imagery on X, formerly Twitter, on January 21.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has set the vision of transforming the People's Liberation Army into a blue-water navy, which includes establishing military bases around the world to support visits. Until now, China's only acknowledged foreign military base has been in Djibouti.

The Washington Post reported in June 2022 that China was building a naval base in Cambodia for the use of its navy in the northern portion of Ream. The Post reported, citing U.S. officials, that China was secretly building the port facility to host the People's Liberation Army Navy and that Beijing was concealing the development as security-related aid to Cambodia.

Cambodia later confirmed it had received financial aid from China to build the new base, which comes at a time when relations between the two countries have grown close.

In December, a Chinese naval vessel was seen at Ream after open-source satellite enthusiasts noticed the presence of ships at the port, Newsweek reported.

After the December sighting of Chinese vessels, the U.S. State Department said it was monitoring the presence of Chinese vessels in Cambodia.

The Cambodian Prime Minister has recently said that Phnom Penh will not host foreign military bases on its territory while indirectly responding to scrutiny of Chinese vessels at the base.

"I would like to reiterate that the Ream Naval Base is often mentioned in the newspaper. Article 53 of our Constitution makes it clear that Cambodia does not allow foreign military bases on its territory, and Cambodian troops also have no base on any territory except under the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions," Prime Minister Hun Manet said on January 25.

Shugart has tracked the ongoing construction of the base through satellite imagery.

"Here's the northern part of the base, compared to just over a year ago (Dec 2022). Lots of new buildings have gone up, with what look like streets and foundations indicating more to come," Shugart wrote on X, formerly Twitter, describing the new structures coming up at Ream.

"While we have no comment on this specific development, we have serious concerns about the PRC's plans for exclusive control over portions of Ream Naval Base," a State Department spokesperson said on December 6.

China's Foreign Ministry has said that its help in the upgrade of the naval base at Ream is a normal activity to provide assistance to Cambodia and is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Cambodian navy to defend maritime territorial integrity. China has rejected reports in Western media that it is building a military base there.

Updated on 02/23/24 at 3:42 p.m. ET with detail on Chinese position