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  • Cambodia signs a secret deal with China

  • It gives China's navy exclusive rights to a naval base

  • That could help the Chinese military control

  • a critical shipping lane in Southeast Asia.

  • Welcome back to China Uncensored.

  • I'm Chris Chappell.

  • China has signed a secret deal for exclusive rights

  • to use part of a Cambodian naval base called Ream.

  • Cambodia is here.

  • Ream is here.

  • Now if the Chinese Communist Party's military,

  • the People's Liberation Army,

  • was really building a navy base in Cambodia

  • that would be a big deal.

  • But don't worry!

  • Because last November,

  • Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen totally denied it!

  • Of course, it would be super embarrassing if, say,

  • foreign media found out about it.

  • Wait... technically, it's not a *Chinese* military base.

  • The pact simply gives China *exclusive rights* to part of a *Cambodian* naval base.

  • Still embarrassing, though.

  • That's why Cambodia's prime minister is doubling down,

  • and denying that report,

  • calling itthe worst fake news against Cambodia.”

  • Which is yet another lie, because the worst fake news against Cambodia

  • is that the prime minister actuallywonthe last election.

  • It's so much easier to win after you've thrown out all of your opposition.

  • Also, the naval base thing happens to be true.

  • Unlike free and fair elections in Cambodia.

  • So what's the big deal about a Chinese navy presence in Cambodia?

  • Well, as I mentioned, that navy base is here.

  • It's on the Gulf of Thailand.

  • And that means easy access to the Strait of Malacca.

  • And that's the most important shipping lane

  • between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

  • The Pentagon believes it's part of Chinese regime's plan

  • to boost its ability to project military power around the globe.

  • And the US is “'concerned that any steps by the Cambodian government

  • to invite a foreign military presence in Cambodia'

  • would disturb regional peace and stability.”

  • Although I'm sure if thatforeign military presencewere the US,

  • the US might reconsider its concerns.

  • Not that that the Chinese military being there is really equivalent.

  • Especially considering that the Chinese military is run by the Communist Party,

  • which supported the previous Cambodian Khmer Rouge regime

  • even as it murdered one quarter of Cambodia's population in the 1970s.

  • Anyway, the base would be Beijing's first dedicated facility

  • on the Southeast Asian mainland for naval staging.

  • In the navy!

  • You can sail the seven seas...

  • In the navy!

  • That is not naval staging.

  • That is what happens when our graphics guy spends too much time on YouTube.

  • Naval stagingis where you put navy units,

  • aircraft and warships some place where they can be prepared

  • for attacking or invading people.

  • A former U.S. State Department official says having a naval base in Cambodia

  • gives the People's Liberation Army Navy a leg up in all of Southeast Asia.

  • BecauseYou have all of a sudden mainland Southeast Asia

  • potentially sitting behind a defensive Chinese military perimeter.”

  • And another U.S. official told the Wall Street Journal

  • that a Chinese presence at Ream wouldgreatly complicate

  • the ability of the U.S. to help Taiwan if Beijing decides to attack.

  • The Chinese Communist Party opened its first official military outpost overseas

  • in the African nation of Djibouti just two years ago.

  • That made Djiboutithe linchpin in China's belt and road plan."

  • The Belt and Road is the Chinese Communist Party's plan

  • to build a sprawling network of land and sea links throughout Asia,

  • the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

  • For trade.

  • And as a way for the Party to project power and influence across the world.

  • The Chinese navy's exclusive use of the naval base in Ream,

  • Cambodia is part of what the Pentagon sees as the Chinese regime's quest

  • for a global network of military and dual-use sites.

  • Djibouti was the blueprint for "mixing commercial and military interests."

  • And it just so happens that the Chinese navy

  • is also allegedly building a navy base in Pakistan,

  • although they deny it.

  • Where have I heard that before?

  • Chinese state-backed companies also lease deep water ports

  • in Sri Lanka and Myanmar-slash-Burma,

  • but the Chinese regime also denies those will ever be naval bases.

  • Well, as an Australian intelligence official said,

  • We have some concern that China is using the same playbook [in Cambodia they]

  • used in the South China Sea,

  • creating facts on the ground until such time that it is too late for anyone to object.”

  • Like when the Chinese regime built those fake islands,

  • but then denied they would be used for the military.

  • Then they surprised everyone with landing strips

  • missile batteries

  • and long-range nuclear bombers.

  • I'm sure those are just civilian landing strips,

  • civilian missile batteries,

  • and civilian long-range nuclear bombers.

  • And if you think the naval base is Ream is a problem,

  • it might be only the beginning.

  • The U.S. and its allies are also lobbying Cambodia not to let China's military

  • use a new airport being built just 40 miles away.

  • An airport being built by a Chinese company on a 99-year lease.

  • Don't worry, thoughthe company denies it'll be used by China's military.

  • But if the rest of the world believes that,

  • after all the denials about the Cambodian naval base,

  • then we're the ones who are really in denial.

  • So what do you think about the Chinese regime establishing

  • its first military outpost in Southeast Asia?

  • Leave your comments below.

  • And before we go,

  • I'll answer a question from one of our supporters on Patreon:

  • Robert W Eischen asks:

  • Has China become a fascist and imperialistic Nation?”

  • Whaaat, that's crazy!

  • If you accuse the Chinese Communist Party

  • of being fascist and imperialistic,

  • they'll totally deny it.

  • Thanks for your question, Robert.

  • And you, too, can be like Robert

  • and support China Uncensored as we make episodes like this.

  • Visit Patreon.com/China Uncensored and pledge a dollar or more per episode.

  • And you'll have a chance to get your question answered on the show.

  • Once again, I'm Chris Chappell.

  • Thanks for watching China Uncensored.

Cambodia signs a secret deal with China

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