Cambodian warships are docked at Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville, southwestern of Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 26, 2019. - AP
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia will inaugurate a Chinese-renovated naval base next month, an army spokesman said Tuesday (March 18), with a Japanese warship expected to be the first to dock at the site that has drawn concerns from the United States.
Washington has said the Ream naval base, located off Cambodia's southern coast, could give Beijing a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand near the disputed South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety.
