PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s influential former Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Friday that Japan would be granted visitation rights to the country’s Ream Naval Base, a site that has raised concerns in the United States over potential Chinese military activity.
Chinese naval vessels have been using the Ream base following a Beijing-funded upgrade that began in June 2022. Cambodia has repeatedly denied reports of a secret agreement allowing China to station its military forces at the facility. The upgrade followed Cambodia’s demolition of a U.S.-built facility at the base in 2020, rejecting Washington’s offer to repair it.
Hun Sen, now serving as Cambodia’s Senate president, revealed the decision during a meeting with Japan’s national security adviser, Akiba Takeo. According to a Facebook post from Hun Sen, accompanied by video footage of the meeting, he commended Japan’s role in the region, describing it as a “good partner.”
Relations between the United States and Cambodia have soured in recent years, attributed partly to Phnom Penh’s deepening alliance with Beijing and a government crackdown that has stifled political opposition.
The announcement comes shortly after the USS Savannah, a U.S. Independence-variant littoral combat ship, visited Cambodia on Monday—the first U.S. naval visit of its kind in eight years. Japan’s new access to the Ream base is seen as a diplomatic move, highlighting its role as a trusted ally in a region navigating tensions between China and the United States.