Cambodia's Defence Minister Tea Banh reassured Wednesday that no foreign military base would be allowed in the country as it goes against its Constitution.
At a ground-breaking ceremony for the modernisation of facilities at the Ream Naval Base with Chinese aid, Tea Banh, also deputy prime minister, suggested some countries have spread misinformation about cooperation between Cambodia and China.
"Cambodia, however, can receive all sorts of military assistance from any country, including China, to further enhance its self-defense capabilities," Tea Banh said.
At the ceremony, which was also attended by the Chinese ambassador to Cambodia, Wang Winthean, the defense minister added his country has no policy of choosing one country to oppose another.
The Chinese ambassador, meanwhile, said the upgrading or construction of structures at the naval base, including a drydock slipway and pier, assisted by Beijing, is "the result of mutual respect."
He added, "The Chinese army will, as always, provide assistance to the Cambodian army within its capacity and push the military cooperation between the two countries to a new level."
In recent years, Cambodia has been accused by the United States and foreign media of allowing China to expand its military presence in the Southeast Asian country.
But Prime Minister Hun Sen and Tea Banh repeatedly denied the possibility of such a view saying the Constitution does not permit a foreign military base on its territory or allow its military to set up a base abroad, except within the framework of United Nations cooperation.
The project to revamp the naval base on the Gulf of Thailand, near the South China Sea, where China is expanding territorial ambitions, is expected to take two years.
