BEIJING: China will send two warships to Cambodia and East Timor from the first half of May to mid-June, its defence ministry said, potentially further unnerving the United States over the growing Chinese presence at a key Cambodian naval base.
China will send its largest naval training ship Qijiguang along with a giant amphibious warfare ship Jinggangshan to the two countries for training with local naval cadets to enhance mutual trust between their navies, the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement on Thursday (May 9).
The Jinggangshan dock landing ship is capable of transporting helicopters, armoured vehicles, boats and landing craft as well as nearly 1,000 troops. Qijiguang is smaller but is China’s technologically most advanced military training vessel.
China did not say where the vessels will be based while in Cambodia and East Timor.
But the visit of the Chinese ships could further fuel US concerns about the presence of Chinese warships at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, whose recent expansion has been backed by China.
Cambodia’s decision to allow China to develop Ream, located at a key waterway on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand in Sihanoukville province, has upset Washington. There are worries that it will give Beijing a new outpost near the contested South China Sea, most of which are claimed by China.
