US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has arrived in Cambodia for a brief visit aimed at reviewing some of the "successes" China has achieved in the country amid growing concern about Beijing's presence in a key Cambodian naval base. This was reported by Reuters and News.bg
Cambodia's decision to allow China to develop the Ream naval base, located on a key waterway on the Gulf of Thailand coast in Sihanoukville province, has Washington worried it will give Beijing a new outpost near the disputed South China Sea.< /p>
Before the Chinese-funded modernization began in June 2022, Ream was the site of joint naval training and exercises between the United States and Cambodia. Cambodia demolished the US-built facility in October 2020.
China is strengthening its "iron" friendship with the Southeast Asian country, amid visits by high-level state and military leaders since last year.
Lloyd Austin confirmed his arrival in Phnom Penh with a post on social network X (formerly Twitter).
A US Defense Department official says there is optimism in Washington that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Maneh, who studied at West Point, will be more in tune with Washington policy than his predecessor, his father Hun Sen.< /p>