For the first time in 8 years, a US Navy ship makes a port call in Cambodia, a top Chinese ally

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — A U.S. Navy warship arrived Monday in Cambodia, the first such visit in eight years to a nation that is China’s close ally in Southeast Asia. Cambodia's government has suggested the port call reflects an upgrade in often-strained relations.

The USS Savannah docked at the port of Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Thailand for a five-day visit. The Savannah, classed as a Littoral Combat Ship, carries a crew of 103.

“It’s great to be back, returning U.S. presence to here after eight years,” the ship’s commanding officer, Daniel A. Sledz, said in brief remarks to reporters. He was given a bouquet of flowers by a Cambodian officer and shook hands with a line of her colleagues.

The United States for many years has had rocky relations with Cambodia, criticizing its government for political repression and human rights violations. There is particular concern about its close ties with China, which Washington fears may get exclusive access to a Cambodian naval base on the Gulf of Thailand, not far from where the Savannah docked.

Recently, there seem to have been moves to patch up relations.

Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defense said last week that the visit was scheduled after a U.S. request for a port call, and would “strengthen and expand the bonds of friendship as well as promote bilateral cooperation” between the two nations.

Two days before that, Cambodia’s foreign ministry noted “positive momentum of bilateral ties and cooperation” and “the reinvigoration of military-to-military cooperation” between Cambodia and the U.S.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visited Cambodia in early June, where he held talks with Prime Minister Hun Manet and other senior officials. He also met with Cambodian alumni of U.S. military training programs. Hun Manet himself is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The U.S. Defense Department said at the time that Austin's discussions concerned “opportunities to strengthen the U.S.-Cambodia bilateral defense relationship in support of regional peace and security,” and other matters.

But Washington remains concerned that the upgrading of Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base near Sihanoukville will serve Beijing’s strategic interests in the region.

The U.S. and others suggest China’s navy is establishing a permanent base at Ream, which would give it easier access to the Malacca Strait, a critical shipping route between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Controversy over the Chinese activity at Ream initially arose in 2019 when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of an agreement seen by U.S. officials would allow China 30-year use of the base, where it would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships.

Cambodia’s government has denied such an agreement or any intention to grant China special privileges at the base, though Beijing has funded its expansion.

In September, Cambodia’s Defense Ministry said that China is giving its navy two warships of the type it has had docked there for months. China is set to hand over two newly built Type 56 corvettes — smaller vessels typically used for coastal patrols — next year at the earliest, after Cambodia requested China’s support.

Cambodia’s defense ministry said the Savannah’s port call will include “a working meeting with the commander of the Ream Naval Base,” as well as meetings with provincial officials and “a friendship sports competition between the crews of the U.S. Navy and the Cambodian Navy.”

Cambodian Navy Capt. Mean Savoeun, deputy commander of the Ream Naval Base, was among those dockside welcoming the Savannah to Sihanoukville. He said he was happy to see the good relationship between Cambodia and the U.S., especially their navies, and believed the visit will bring closer diplomatic cooperation.