However, even the Cambodian government has denied the report. Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhon rejected the report as "groundless accusations". "Cambodia won't allow the Chinese military to use it exclusively or to develop the site as its military base," government spokesman Phay Siphan told the AFP news agency.
The comments made by Cambodia has come after Australia's new prime minister voiced concern and called for transparency.
Australia's new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is in Indonesia for a visit to shore up diplomatic ties to counter growing Chinese assertiveness in the region, labelled the reports "concerning".
"We encourage Beijing to be transparent about its intent and to ensure that its activities support regional security and stability," Albanese said.
Australia has grown increasingly worried about Beijing's growing influence in the Pacific region.
The Cambodian defence minister and China's ambassador will be attending a ground-breaking ceremony Wednesday for new facilities at Ream, including a boat repair shop and a pier.
China also denied that the base would be solely for their navy's use.
"The transformation of Ream Naval Base is only to strengthen Cambodian naval forces' capabilities to uphold maritime territorial sovereignty and crack down on sea crimes," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing Tuesday. He added that Washington's criticisms were "malicious conjectures to attack and smear" Cambodia.
China so far operates just one acknowledged foreign military base, in the impoverished but strategically important Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. Many believe that China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is busy establishing an overseas military network, even if they don't use the term “base."
Cambodia's authoritarian leader, Hun Sen, has long cultivated relations with China, and reportedly signed a secret agreement in 2019 allowing the Chinese to establish a base at Ream.
Though Hun Sen has strongly denied that Cambodia would allow China to set up a military outpost at Ream, China has already been dredging the harbor to allow larger ships to dock, and is building new infrastructure to replace a US-built naval tactical headquarters.
