Link to article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2k42n54kvo
Satelites confirm that the two constant grey figures docked at Combodia’s naval base in Ream for the past year are Chinese type 056A corvettes of the Chinese navy. These Ships have been berthed along a new Chinese built pier which is much bigger than before, enabling much larger vessels to be able to dock there. This peir was almost identical to the one built at China’s military base built in Djibouti, resting at 363 meters long- a length that can accomodate for China’s largest aircraft carrier. Satellite imagery also shows that along with that, new wharehouses, offices, living quarters with basketball hoops, and a new dry dock has been built. With this information many are speculating, including the US, that these new peirs are to be used by the Chinese Navy. Cambodia, however, denies these rumors stating that they have a smaller navy with limited resources and therefore need the help of a larger country to kickstart their militaristic endeavors. They also claim that Chinese presence at their base in Ream is not permanent so it does not count as a Chinese base. Although Cambodia has denied rumors there was an alleged agreement in 2019 to lease the base for 30 years, but they were once again dismissed. It is also notable that no ships have been allowed to dock at Ream besides Chinese vessels. Up until a few years back the US had been helping Cambodia to build up their bases. The US provided tens of millions of dollars in military aid yearly to Cambodia. In 2017 the US began to cut back on these aids, and since Cambodia was already reliant on Chinese aid as well, they abruptly switched to full Chinese support. This means they switched to Golden Dragon excersizes with China while cancelling its regular excersizes with the US.
China has been building up its navy for the past years. The country now contains more ships than the US military, and therefore has become a valid competitor in the water. However some question how powerful this navy could really be since China only has one overseas military base in Djibouti. In comparison the US has 750 overseas bases some of which in countries close to China like Japan and South Korea. Along with this Vietnam has begun to worry, fearing that China is attempting to create bases along its borders. Vietnam is one of the competitors in the South China Sea, and are worried this could ruin their contending spot in the competition. However more believe that this possible base is more of a “gateway” getting China closer to places it wants to be, such as the Indian Ocean, since they have few other bases that could get them their. China has outwardly expressed their intrest in becoming a world military power but to do so they will need to spread their military out. Having access to a large gulf such as the Indian Ocean would open up many more possibilities to do so. Relating this back to class, it could be seen that China is looking for a dominance solution to the collective goods problem. By controlling the seas you could have massive domination and therefore influence how you would like things to be run.