Cambodia and China breaking ground on joint port project; Phnom Penh denies it will allow Chinese military presence venue

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows a Cambodian naval base in Ream, Cambodia, April 25, 2022. Cambodian and Chinese officials will break ground this week on the expansion of a port facility that the US and others have worried will be used by Beijing a naval outpost on the Gulf of Thailand, but the government again denied Tuesday that any Chinese military presence would be allowed. - Planet Labs PBC via AP

PHNOM PENH, June 7 (AP): Cambodia denied again Tuesday that it will allow any Chinese military presence at a port where it and China are beginning an expansion this week that has prompted concern in the United States and elsewhere that it will be used by Beijing as a naval outpost on the Gulf of Thailand.

Chief government spokesman Phay Siphan described the expansion of the Ream Naval Base as "cooperation between China and Cambodia” and said the Chinese ambassador to Cambodia will preside over the groundbreaking on Wednesday along with Cambodia's defense minister and other senior military officials.