The Ream naval base in Cambodia is part of “China’s String of Pearls strategy”, a naval military strategy of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to ensure China’s control over ports and strategic locations in the world’s seas and oceans. This strategy includes establishing Chinese naval bases from the South China Sea to Djibouti and beyond, aiming to protect vital trade routes for China. The Ream base’s location in Cambodia serves to secure (China’s Yulin naval base), situated on the northern edge of the South China Sea, which China considers one of its most important strategic military bases.
Securing these maritime routes is crucial for Chinese trade to reach the Mediterranean, including Chinese investments in Israeli ports, such as: the port of Haifa and related projects. Western and American concerns are growing that the Ream base will enhance China’s intelligence-gathering capabilities and hinder US military operations in the region. These moves demonstrate China’s efforts to shift its strategy from coastal defense to project power and protect its economic interests far beyond its borders, within the framework of its Belt and Road Initiative.
The Ream naval base in Cambodia is a strategic forward operating base for China in the Gulf of Thailand, providing Beijing with its first military base in Southeast Asia to secure its shipping lanes. The Cambodian base enhances China’s ability to circumvent the constraints of the Strait of Malacca, also known as the “Malacca dilemma,” and comes within the context of a global maritime expansion aimed at protecting trade and energy routes connecting China to the Middle East, including Israeli ports such as the (proposed Ben Gurion Port), which is being developed in response to China’s presence and is primarily supported by the United States.
Therefore, China is bolstering its military influence by rehabilitating the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia since 2022, establishing it as a strategic foothold in Southeast Asia, specifically near the Strait of Malacca. China is developing the Ream Naval Base
in Cambodia, overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, making it China’s first military base in Southeast Asia and its second international base after Djibouti. In 2021, the Cambodian Minister of Defense stated that “China is helping to build the infrastructure in Ream without any conditions.” This base serves as a strategic element in supporting China’s “Maritime Silk Road” (Belt and Road Initiative), working to secure maritime supply lines, enhance military influence in the region, and gather intelligence. A report issued by the US Department of Defense indicated the possibility of China establishing military bases soon in Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, Nigeria, Namibia, Mozambique, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, and Tajikistan.
China has already constructed new facilities at the Ream naval base in Cambodia, on the site of a former US base. These facilities are undergoing Chinese-funded modernization, allowing for a periodic or permanent presence of Chinese warships, particularly in the northern part of the base. The strategic importance of the Ream base’s location in Cambodia stems from its connection to the vital international Strait of Malacca. China faces the risk of trade disruptions in the Strait of Malacca, through which most of its energy imports pass. Therefore, the base provides China with a strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand to enhance its maritime control and secure its lines of communication in the South China Sea.
This Chinese expansion is indirectly linked to Israel’s Ben Gurion Port (Haifa) through China’s broader Belt and Road Initiative to secure global trade routes. Chinese companies are operating ports in sensitive areas, raising Western security concerns. China is developing and expanding the Ream naval base in Cambodia, overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, giving it a strategic foothold to bolster its military presence in Southeast Asia and monitor the vital Strait of Malacca. The base is estimated to allow China to secure its shipping lanes and the oil it transports through this waterway, making it its second de facto overseas base after Djibouti, further fueling US and regional anxieties. The US military has already formally expressed concern that the Chinese military will use this base to plan and support operations across the southern tip of the South China Sea, the Gulf of Thailand, and the eastern Indian Ocean, including air operations if a nearby airfield is converted for military use, and to expand intelligence gathering in those areas.
Regarding the importance of the Chinese military base in Cambodia and its connection to the international Strait of Malacca, while China already has bases on islands in the South China Sea, the “Cambodian base at Ream” is closer to the Strait of Malacca, a vital waterway for goods and ships between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Therefore, China is developing and expanding the Ream naval base in Cambodia, overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, giving it a strategic foothold to bolster its military presence in Southeast Asia and monitor the crucial Strait of Malacca. It is estimated that the base will allow China to secure its maritime shipping lanes and the oil that passes through this waterway, making it its second de facto overseas base after Djibouti, thus increasing American and regional concerns. The importance of China’s Ream military base in Cambodia and its connection to the Strait of Malacca stems from its strategic location. Situated in the Gulf of Thailand, Ream provides China with direct access to Southeast Asia and strategic proximity to the Strait of Malacca, a vital waterway through which approximately 30% of global trade and a significant portion of China’s energy imports pass.
Through the Ream base, China also seeks to address the “Malacca dilemma.” This means that China aims to resolve the “Malacca dilemma,” its concerns about the potential closure of the Strait of Malacca by US and allied forces during wartime, and thus secure its southern maritime supply lines. Despite Cambodia’s denial of any permanent foreign bases, analysts suggest a secret agreement granting China exclusive and periodic access to the base, complete with advanced logistical facilities, including docks capable of accommodating large warships. Given the intelligence-gathering and deterrence capabilities China provides at its Cambodian base, as well as its ability to patrol the South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand and encircle Washington’s allies, this constitutes part of its global military expansion. Consequently, this presence raises concerns among neighboring countries, particularly Vietnam, and US officials believe these moves exacerbate geopolitical tensions in the region. This is especially true considering Beijing’s investment of billions of dollars in Cambodia, which has forged a close alliance, and the expansions to construct docks and a dry dock for maintenance, transforming it into an advanced logistics support base.
The development of the Ream base in Cambodia is linked to the (Ben Gurion port in Haifa, Israel), a rival to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Israel is attempting to create a maritime route to compete with the Chinese project, connecting it to India and the Indian and Pacific Oceans via Mediterranean ports. Therefore, China’s maritime strategy seeks to expand its port network, aiming to acquire strategic ports worldwide, such as those in Djibouti, Ream, and the Eastern Mediterranean, to ensure the smooth flow of supply chains. China itself manages the Israeli port of Haifa through the “Shanghai International Port Group” (SIPG).
SIPG has been operating the Haifa Bay terminal (the new Ben Gurion port) since 2021, a move that has raised concerns in the United States due to its vital role as a maritime hub, similar to the importance of other Chinese-operated or developed sites in various regions, ensuring logistical dominance. Here, China, through parallel moves in Cambodia, seeks to bolster its influence in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, while simultaneously strengthening its presence in the Mediterranean Sea via Israeli ports to advance its global Belt and Road Initiative in the face of any competing projects, most notably “Israel’s Ben Gurion Canal project.”
Regarding the connection between the Chinese military base in Cambodia, Ream, and China’s Maritime Silk Road, this base’s role lies in its ability to protect maritime routes. Ream is part of “China’s string of pearls strategy” to encircle maritime areas worldwide, according to the naval doctrine of the People’s Liberation Army Navy. It provides a security umbrella to protect vital trade and energy routes passing through the Strait of Malacca. Furthermore, the Cambodian base of Ream enhances China’s maritime projection, as it can host large Chinese warships, thus reducing the military gap with the United States and strengthening China’s ability to operate far from its shores. Additionally, Ream allows China to achieve regional dominance, as it gives Beijing the ability to monitor maritime routes in Southeast Asia and neighboring countries.
The Ream base also contributes to achieving regional control for China, as it gives Beijing the ability to monitor maritime routes in Southeast Asia and neighboring countries. The key points regarding the Chinese military base in Ream, Cambodia, can be summarized as follows: The philosophy of denial and the reality of its use for military purposes are evident in Cambodia’s persistent denial of a permanent base. Cambodian authorities consistently maintain that the activity is merely infrastructure development. However, repeated accusations from Washington and Beijing’s Asian rivals allege a regular presence of Chinese ships and the use of the base for training and maintenance. Furthermore, American concern about this Chinese presence at the Cambodian base is growing, with Washington fearing the expansion of Chinese military influence and a shift in the regional balance of power. The Chinese military base in Ream represents a strategic shift, marking a move away from China’s previous policy of restraint towards establishing a permanent military presence in international maritime trade routes. This effectively grants China control over global supply chains and weakens Washington’s ability to support its ally Israel in constructing the Ben Gurion Canal, a parallel and competing project to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Based on the preceding military analysis, we understand that China’s Ream naval base in Cambodia is a geopolitical pillar supporting “China’s Maritime Silk Road”. It aims to secure China’s economic and trade interests militarily in the face of American influence in the region and to restrict the construction of an alternative Israeli canal that could compete with China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Egypt’s Suez Canal.
