First Chinese Naval Visit To Cambodia Following Cambodia-Thailand Border Conflict
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Two People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels, the Type 680 training ship Qi Jiguang (83) and the Type 071-class landing platform dock (LPD) Yimeng Shan (988), have undertaken what is being characterized as a friendship and training visit to Cambodia. The visit marks the first port call by Chinese warships to the Southeast Asian country since the July 2025 Cambodia-Thailand Border Conflict, which placed Chinese decision-makers in the uncomfortable position of balancing two important bilateral relations in such an awkward manner that the United States became the de facto peacemaker in a conflict that took place in what amounts to Beijing’s backyard.
In the event of a major war between China and the United States, Beijing will have to maintain the neutrality of as many of its Southeast Asian neighbours as possible. While the Philippines, a treaty ally of the United States, is increasingly likely to throw its lot on the American side should such a conflict transpire, the situation with Thailand, another treaty ally of the United States, is more complex and less certain, not least given the uncertainties concerning Thailand’s political future. Maintaining Thai neutrality in the event of a major war between China and the United States is not only important to Beijing in terms of denying the United States access to additional military bases and positions from which to launch strike munitions against China, but also in terms of maintaining a major outlet through which China can both access much of the world in wartime via transhipments in Thailand and, more generally, import natural resouces and finished goods from Thailand.
To do so, Beijing will have to carefully navigate ongoing tensions between Cambodia and Thailand in a context in which the former is likely to be requesting a substantial package of Chinese armaments so as to ameliorate the decidedly lopsided Cambodia-Thailand military balance. It is worth noting that Russia is likely to develop countries like Cambodia and Laos as customers for its military equipment, which is to say that countries like Cambodia do not have China as their only option when it comes to acquiring military equipment.
