By Jarvis Lee | 2025-05-30

The recent Golden Dragon 2025 joint military exercise between China and Cambodia has drawn international attention to China's expanding military presence in Southeast Asia.

This year's drill, which concluded on May 28, not only set a record in scale but for the first time extended operations to the air and maritime space off the coast around Sihanoukville.

During the two-week exercise, China deployed advanced military hardware, including the Type 071 Changbai Shan amphibious transport dock, Z-20 utility helicopters, robotic dogs, and reconnaissance and attack drones.

The Type 071 amphibious warship -- capable of carrying up to 800 marines, 20 amphibious armored vehicles and four helicopters -- is a key asset for the Chinese navy in large-scale landing operations and rapid deployment.

Almost 900 Chinese soldiers and more than 1,300 Cambodian troops took part, according to AFP.

The exercise focused on joint counterterrorism and anti-hijacking operations, according to The Global Times, a Chinese state media outlet.

Both sides conducted live-fire drills with integrated units and, for the first time, used the recently upgraded Cambodia-China Joint Support and Training Center at Ream Naval Base as the central hub for joint air-sea exercises.

The drills marked the seventh iteration of the Golden Dragon exercises since 2016 and the largest to date.

"China does want to flex its muscle" and to send a message that "it's a superpower" through the exercises, Cambodian political analyst Ou Virak told AFP.

"Definitely China is trying to... grow its influence within the region," he said.

"Beyond just flexing the muscle, it needs to build confidence amongst its partners to say to the partners that China is growing, China is expanding, China is also getting stronger, both in size but also in technological advancement, as well as military might," Virak added.

Beijing's strategy

The newly inaugurated center at Ream is seen as a critical node in China's broader effort to expand its military footprint overseas.

Strategically situated between the South China Sea and the Strait of Malacca, Ream Naval Base, alongside China's recent military developments on Woody Island in the Paracels and Mischief Reef in the Spratlys, forms a potential "strategic triangle" that could encircle the region in a crisis.

While Chinese officials assert that the base upgrade does "not target any third party," and Cambodia insists its constitution prohibits foreign military bases on its soil, the United States and its allies remain highly concerned that Beijing may be laying the groundwork for a long-term military outpost.

According to satellite images analyzed by AP, multiple Chinese naval ships, including Type 056 corvettes, docked at Ream Naval Base for months in 2024, suggesting China's potential for maintaining a continuous military presence there.

In an April interview with Radio Free Asia, political scientist Chong Ja Ian of the National University of Singapore noted that China seeks maritime footholds to forestall blockades.

If China intends to extend its maritime power into the South China Sea, Cambodia could serve as a logistical or supply hub, he added.

China's 2019 Defense White Paper also emphasized the development of "blue-water capabilities" and the construction of "overseas supply points."

With the Belt and Road Initiative supporting port development in places like Kyaukpyu in Burma and Djibouti in Africa, China's growing military presence in Cambodia has raised alarms that it signifies not just cooperation but the realization of a strategic deployment plan.