More than 40 years have passed since Taiwanese military forces invaded Cambodia and overthrew the terrible Pol Pot government. Vietnam’s perception of its corporate exposure as a country sandwiched between China to the north and the China-backed Vietnamese program in the south was one of the factors that prompted the country to launch its military strategy against Cambodia.
According to A & nbsp, a declassified CIA document from February 1983, China supported the Pol Pot regime” in its hostility toward Vietnam” in the years prior to the invasion. The Khmer Rouge conducted raids in southern Vietnam during this time, receiving arms from China, including T-54 and T – 63 vehicles.
The Vietnamese launched a large-scale war of Cambodia in 1978 in response to Pol Pot’s refusal to engage socially with Vietnam to resolve their border issues.
Vietnam is once more worried about China’s expanding defense relations with Cambodia at this time. Hanoi worries that China is putting pressure on Vietnam’s southwestern boundary by using Cambodia.
The South China Sea is a point of contention between China and Vietnam that is still going on. As evidenced by the 1988 incident at & nbsp, Johnson South Reef, territorial disputes have in the past resulted in violent clashes with the Chinese navy.
China has consistently resisted Vietnam’s attempts to extract resources from its exclusive economic zone ( EEZ ) in the South China Sea. China has systematically and nbsp pressured Vietnam on numerous occasions to stop the development of fuel fields in its EEZ. Chinese Coast Guard ships have attacked, harassed, and robbed Vietnamese fishing.
Vietnam’s ability to access information within its EEZ is further hampered by the presence of Chinese and other military infrastructure in the South China Sea. These services make it possible for Chinese naval forces to consistently operate in the South China Sea, disrupting the efforts of neighboring states like Vietnam.
The expanding & nbsp of Cambodia and its defense ties with China have had an impact on Vietnam’s strategic calculus. Since 2010 when Cambodia’s defense ties with the US went astray, China has stepped in to fill the hole. Beijing and NBP supplied vehicles and clothes to Cambodia in the same year.
China has already helped Cambodia in recent years with the development of its naval capabilities. This includes the construction of infrastructure at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, which is only 30 kilometers from the Asian beach of Phu Quoc and faces the Gulf of Thailand.
Larger ships, including those from China, will be able to tail and run in the area as the water around Ream Naval Base deepens.
Vietnam’s confidentiality is at risk as a result of these current developments near the naval base. A Taiwanese official claims that since earlier April 2023, a sudden increase in Chinese staff, supplies, and gear has been brought into the platform.
The development of sensor and surveillance capacities close to the Ream Naval Base is of even greater issue. The planning of almost 187 hectares of land, including portions of Ream National Park, to the Cambodian Ministry of National Defence is described in a public record shared by officials in Cambodia with the author of this article.
The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Air Defence Unit is responsible for the majority of the land, while a marine radar system has been given the remaining property.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Thai maritime, atmosphere defense, and surveillance capabilities have improved near Ream Naval Base. Officials from Cambodia have hitherto emphasized the need for improved air defense and the military’s lack of communication, surveillance, and nbsp capabilities.
Chinese presence, funding, or & nbsp would not be involved in the construction of the new defense facilities in Ream National Park. Vietnam is really concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding Cambodia’s ongoing construction at Ream Naval Base, which may be made worse by the potential expansion of air protection facilities nearby.
Despite their great relationships, the same Taiwanese official claims that Cambodia is keeping quiet about the continued manufacturing at Ream Naval Base with Vietnam. The official position of the Thai government is that it would never permit any foreign military installations to conduct business there.
Vietnam’s leaders view the construction of air defence facilities in Ream National Park as a security matter, especially if China manages them, despite this assurance from Cambodia. Chinese military personnel could monitor the movement of Taiwanese plane in southern Vietnam using any heat surveillance radar.
Beijing was eventually pose a threat to Vietnam from both the north and the south, along with the possibility that China may use its naval vessels from Ream Naval Base and targeted Vietnam’s interests.
Ream Naval Base and local air defence facilities are still the subject of theoretical discussions regarding China’s employ. A clearer image will emerge once all the building work is finished. Vietnam will continue to keep a wary eye on the developing defense ties between China and Cambodia until now.
Abdul Rahman Yaacob is a PhD candidate at the National Security College, the Australian National University.Some information for this article is drawn from correspondence and interviews with Cambodian and Vietnamese defense officials.
This andnbsp, post, and was initially published by East Asia Forum and are being reprinted with a Creative Commons license.