Chinese Navy Secures Exclusive Access to Cambodian Base

“TThis is not just a visit or an exercise,” said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (amti), on April 19. He referred to warships of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (plan) who spent more than four months docked at a newly built naval base in the Gulf of Thailand in Ream, Cambodia.

“It looks like they are stationed there,” Poling said, in light of satellite images amti recently analyzed. No other ships, including Cambodian ones, have been spotted using the base. Poling says this shows that despite denials from both the Cambodian and Chinese governments, “the plan operates from Ream.”

The Trumpet reported in 2019 that Cambodia had secretly agreed to grant China’s military exclusive rights to a 62-hectare portion of the Ream base for 30 years. The agreement allowed the Chinese military to station soldiers, weapons and warships there. amtiChina’s new report shows that China has now established an apparently permanent and exclusive presence at this base.

Cambodia’s attempts to keep the deal secret were likely fueled by fears of domestic backlash, as the country’s constitution bans foreign military bases on its territory. Details about why Cambodian leaders are ignoring the law to allow China in remain unknown. But China’s ability to launch military operations from the Gulf of Thailand significantly strengthens its means to enforce claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea.

Over the past decade, China has built and militarized seven artificial islands in the South China Sea, mainly in the Spratly and Paracel chains. Adding a military position in Cambodia to China’s existing presence would give China a triangular perimeter around the entire mainland of Southeast Asia.

“What appears to be clear is that Beijing has begun stationing semi-permanent warships there as a means of strengthening its military footprint in Southeast Asia,” said Paul Chambers, a political scientist at Naresuan University in Thailand.

China’s military presence on Cambodia’s coast is also extremely important as it increases China’s control over the strategically vital Strait of Malacca, through which some 90 percent of crude oil shipments from the South China Sea pass .

Many U.S. officials are discouraged by Cambodia’s decision to grant China this groundbreaking military foothold, largely because the United States has invested lavishly in Cambodia’s development over the years in an effort to win the country over as partner.

The US has pumped billions of dollars into Cambodia for military aid, education, poverty alleviation and economic development. It has helped train Cambodian soldiers and built military installations in the country, including parts of the Ream naval base that China now has exclusive access to.

But despite U.S. efforts and overtures, Cambodia is standing cold to the U.S. and giving China strategically valuable access to its territory.

Analysts are particularly concerned that China’s position in Cambodia could undermine US power in the event of an attack on US partners in the region such as Japan, the Philippines, South Korea or Taiwan. Should any of these allies be attacked, many of the American forces charged with their defense would usually pass through the Straits of Malacca to assist them. But with warships in Cambodia, China could seriously complicate the passage of American troops.

The new base in Cambodia is just the latest sign of China’s increasing ability to project military power around the world at the expense of America’s global power. This trend continues apace, simultaneously pushing forward three developments that are important in light of Biblical prophecy: the decline of America, the world moving deeper into “the times of the Gentiles,” and the coming together of “the kings of the Gentiles.” East.”

The downfall of the US

The late educator Herbert W. Armstrong predicted the collapse of American power decades ago. Shortly after the failed US invasion of Cuba in 1961, he blamed not the US military or even the Kennedy administration, but the American people. This was due to the lawlessness of the people and their refusal to turn to God.

“Unless or until the United States as a whole repents and returns to what has become an empty slogan on its dollars: ‘In God we trust’, the United States of America has won its last war! (The God America is forsaken gave it its most humiliating defeat! What does the Cuban debacle mean mean? It means, Mr. and Mrs. United States, that THE HANDWRITING IS ON YOUR WALL!” (Hard truth, October 1961).

Mr. Armstrong understood that America’s global power was heading toward collapse. He made his predictions with confidence because they were based on Bible prophecies. The Bible contains remarkably specific predictions for the descendants of “Israel,” an ancient name that largely refers to the modern nation of America. God said in Leviticus 26:19 that if the nations of Israel refused to turn to Him, He would “break the pride of (their) power.”

In the sixty years since Mr. Armstrong wrote that Hard truth article, the people of the US have intensified their rejection of God and His law. And in the time since, America has seen dozens of military clashes, each half-hearted campaign undermining a little more of the country’s pride in its power. And America has lost its influence in numerous overseas locations, including Cambodia.

‘The Times of the Gentiles’

Luke 21:24 speaks of a time in modern times called “the times of the Gentiles.” This is mainly caused by the vacuum created by America’s decline.

In his February 2020 article “The Pinnacle of Man’s Rule over Man” Trumpet editor-in-chief Gerald Flurry explained the term Pagan in this context refers to “two important powers – one revolves around Russia and China, and the other around Germany.” He explained that during the “times of the heathen,” these would be the major nations rising to fill the void left by America, and that they would dominate the world.

Late last year, after observing shifts in the global balance of power and various trends in Europe and Asia, Mr. Flurry wrote: “We are already deep in the age of the pagans. You see it happening.”

Cambodia’s cold shoulder to America and its extraordinary invitation to China is an area where we can see the world moving deeper into this dark age.

‘The Kings of the East’

Revelation 9:16 discusses an Asian military power that will arise in the same “pagan” era. This force will consist of as many as 200 million soldiers. Revelation 16:12 calls this future Asian force “the kings of the east,” with the multiple “kings” indicating a multinational bloc made up of several Asian nations. Ezekiel 38 provides several details about this military alliance, including that it will be led by Russia, with China in a position of secondary leadership. It shows that several other less powerful Asian countries will be led by Russia and China.

Today, with Asian countries such as Cambodia rallying behind China, the conditions are ripe for this prophecy to come true.

Luke 21:26 shows that these various trends will culminate in a time of unprecedented global disaster and suffering, when the hearts of “(m)en” will fail with fear. Yet the next verse says that the disaster will end with the most transformative event in human history. The times of the heathen, in which humanity already finds itself, will immediately pass into a time of completely unprecedented peace and prosperity for the peoples of China, Cambodia, America and all countries.

To understand the significance of China’s ever-expanding influence in Cambodia and beyond, and the hope associated with current trends, order your free copy of Russia and China in prophecy.