What's behind the fears over China's overseas port network
China denies its interest in port facilities such as those in Cambodia is part of a plan for a global network of naval bases. The US is unpersuaded.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Kathrin Hille, Demetri Sevastopulo and John Paul Rathbone
Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh took great pains this month to convince Western military officials and diplomats that China was not building a military base in his country. His remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum matched China's insistence that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is not trying to build a global network of bases.
But the US and its allies are unpersuaded. US state department official Derek Chollet said Washington was "convinced" Beijing was building a base at Ream on Cambodia's Gulf of Thailand coast. "We have indications that China is seeking an exclusive military facility," Mr Chollet said in an interview.
