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On Monday, the littoral combat ship USS Savannah<\/em> arrived in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, several miles away from a naval base that the U.S. helped build. That base is now used in large part by Chinese forces, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Institute (AMTI).<\/p>\n Savannah<\/em> is the first U.S. Navy warship to visit Cambodia since 2016, the year before the Cambodian government discontinued joint exercises with U.S. Navy forces. The LCS will stay at a commercial pier at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port for five days, departing December 20. <\/p>\n "Thank you to the people of Sihanoukville for their warm welcome to the Savannah <\/em>team,” said Cmdr. Dan Sledz, commanding officer of Savannah<\/em>. “Cambodia is a key partner for us in the region, and this port visit provides us an important opportunity to meet with local leaders."<\/p>\n The site is about 10 nautical miles northwest of Ream Naval Base, a Cambodian Navy outpost that has been thoroughly renovated and expanded over the past few years with Chinese assistance. Chinese PLA Navy warships were imaged at a newly-constructed pier at Ream for months in early 2024. Although Cambodia insists that the base is not for exclusive Chinese use, it was not used to host USS Savannah<\/em>, nor was it used to welcome the Japanese destroyers Shimakaze <\/em>and Suzunami <\/em>when they arrived at Sihanoukville in February. <\/p>\n In decades past, U.S. ships used to call at Ream Naval Base regularly, and in 2012, the U.S. and Australia funded renovations of a headquarters building there to house Cambodia's National Committee for Maritime Security. That building was demolished<\/a> by Cambodian contractors in 2020 after just eight years in service, and Chinese backers soon arrived to begin major improvements along the waterfront and the base grounds. Ream now has a full-scale dry dock, an array of new administrative and support buildings, and an extended finger pier that – according to U.S. analysts – appears to serve as an assigned berth for the PLA Navy.<\/p>\n Two Chinese navy ships have now spent over four months docked at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base. Is this the beginning of a long-rumored permanent Chinese presence at Ream? https:\/\/t.co\/jFZCvRqRbX<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OpKnukEtcU<\/a><\/p>\n — AMTI (@AsiaMTI) August 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n