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the cambodian ministry of defense confirmed on the 5th that china will provide cambodia with two type 056 frigates to enhance the country's maritime defense capabilities and ensure maritime security. cambodian ministry of defense spokesperson mary suk kita said on the 6th that the two warships were actively requested by cambodia to china based on defense needs and will be used for maritime patrols, search and rescue missions and other humanitarian activities. according to the plan, the two frigates are expected to be delivered around 2025.

it is understood that the type 056 frigate is a light frigate of the chinese navy. the ship integrates multiple types of weapons and equipment, has good stealth and strong electromagnetic compatibility, and is mainly responsible for maritime patrol and surveillance, fishing protection and escort, and independent or coordinated anti-submarine or sea operations.

the strong anti-submarine capability of the type 056a frigate will help cambodia enhance its coastal defense capabilities

sam soeun, a policy analyst at the royal academy of cambodia, said that this military cooperation is a positive promotion for china-cambodia relations. cambodia is a small country with a small population and limited military capabilities, and needs a lot of training compared with other asean countries. the provision of chinese warships is the beginning of strengthening the capabilities of the cambodian military and improving military technology to maintain national peace and stability.

as for the two warships, cambodia "proactively applied to china" based on its defense needs. shenzhen satellite tv news special commentator shi hong believes that from the cambodian side, the initiative to apply to china shows that the relationship between cambodia and china is very good, especially in terms of military cooperation. china and cambodia are actively cooperating. shi hong analyzed that cambodia's initiative also shows that it recognizes the performance and quality of chinese ships. this cooperation will play a very big role in promoting future military cooperation between china and cambodia.

regarding china's provision of warships, yang bo, secretary general of the royal academy of cambodia, said in an interview with the media on the 6th that cambodia's decision to request china to hand over the warships is fully in line with the current national defense strategy. the cambodian government is committed to strengthening its national defense, and accepting china's gift at this time is in line with international law and national interests. "china was chosen not only because of the long-term friendly relations between the two countries, but also because china's military technology can effectively enhance cambodia's defense capabilities and help further deepen the strategic cooperation between the two countries."

on may 27 this year, the china-cambodia "golden dragon-2024" joint exercise was held in the waters near sihanoukville, cambodia. against the backdrop of several "terrorists" hijacking a cargo ship in a cambodian sea area and kidnapping the crew for ransom, the chinese navy dock landing ship qilianshan and the missile frigate wenshan and bazhong formed a joint maritime task force with cambodian naval ships and rushed to the "incident area" for disposal.

wenshan and bazhong are both type 056a frigates, an improved version of the type 056 frigate. the type 056 light missile frigate is about 90 meters long, 11 meters wide, and has a full load displacement of about 1,500 tons. the entire ship has certain stealth design features. compared with the type 056, the stern of the type 056a is slightly higher, and a new variable depth towed line array sonar is installed inside the stern, which greatly enhances the anti-submarine capability of the type 056a.

therefore, some analysts believe that cambodia lacked sufficient capabilities to patrol and protect its water borders in the past, and the ships acquired this time will significantly enhance cambodia's maritime defense capabilities. this not only fills the gap in cambodia's maritime defense capabilities, but also strengthens the country's role in regional security affairs. shenzhen satellite tv direct news special commentator shi hong analyzed that the addition of the two type 056 frigates has a very obvious effect on the cambodian navy's strength. although the displacement of these two frigates is relatively small, they have air defense, anti-ship and anti-submarine combat capabilities, and their comprehensive combat capabilities are relatively strong, which is much stronger and more advanced than the ships currently in service in the cambodian navy. therefore, this will play a very important role in enhancing cambodia's national defense strength and safeguarding its maritime security and maritime rights and interests.

the us once again hyped up the "china threat" by using the cambodia base project. cambodia stressed that it complies with the cambodian constitution.

the us media has paid close attention to china's provision of two warships to cambodia, and has linked this to china's assistance to cambodia in expanding the ream naval base, suggesting that "china intends to establish a long-term military presence in the region." reports have mentioned that china plans to hand over the newly expanded facilities at the ream naval base to cambodia, and the cambodian ministry of defense has confirmed that the final construction phase of these facilities will be completed soon. in addition, some western media reported that the facilities include a "new dock that can accommodate a larger naval fleet than cambodia's current fleet," and the cambodian ministry of defense "declined to comment" on this.

the ream base, located in sihanoukville, sihanoukville, in southwestern cambodia, faces the gulf of thailand and is close to the south china sea and the strait of malacca. in recent years, western media have repeatedly hyped up china's aid to cambodia's naval base. blacksky, an american commercial imaging company, has been using commercial satellites to monitor the construction of cambodia's ream naval base. images taken by the company in july last year showed that a base dock was almost completed and was "strikingly similar" in size and design to the dock used by china's djibouti naval base. the center for strategic and international studies of the united states analyzed that the ream dock is similar to the djibouti dock, both are 335 meters long and can berth a chinese aircraft carrier.

blacksky, an american commercial imaging company, continues to monitor the construction of cambodia's ream naval base. image source: blacksky official website

since december last year, western media have used the discovery of chinese naval vessels docked at the ream base as the source of a new round of anxiety-mongering, claiming that the intermittent presence of the two 056s has "exacerbated relevant concerns." however, the cambodian side unanimously stated that the reason for the long-term docking of the chinese frigates is the need to provide training to the cambodian navy because cambodia is planning to obtain similar equipment. regarding the us public opinion claiming that china may obtain priority to use the base by donating warships, etc., cambodian ministry of defense spokesperson mary suk jieda pointed out that this military cooperation is in full compliance with cambodia’s constitutional provisions and will not affect national sovereignty and territorial integrity. she reiterated that cambodia prohibits any country from establishing military bases on its territory, and these ships will only be used for cambodia’s own defense and rescue missions. she called on the us and western media to stop "china sets up military base in cambodia” speculation and false reports.