This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
The Canadian navy’s Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ottawa has completed a four-day friendly visit to Cambodia where, as with all other foreign warships, it was not given access to the China-developed Ream naval base.
The frigate is on a mission to “promote peace, stability, and the rules-based international order” in the Indo-Pacific region, known as Operation Horizon.
Last month, it conducted joint exercises with the U.S. navy in the South China Sea and sailed near the Scarborough shoal, a hotspot of tension between China and the Philippines.
It also took part in La Perouse 25, a French-led multinational exercise in waters near the Indonesian archipelago.
On its first visit to Cambodia, HMCS Ottawa, with 240 crew docked from Feb.1 to Feb. 4 at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Ream base where two Chinese corvettes are the only foreign warships allowed access.
The U.S. has expressed concerns about the lack of transparency around China’s development of the base and whether it will in future serve as a de-facto foreign base for the Chinese navy, on the doorstep of the disputed South China Sea.
The Canadian ship’s visit was aimed at “strengthening solidarity and friendship between the navies of both countries,” the port’s management said.
For its part, the HMCS Ottawa hailed its visit as a show of Canada’s growing engagement with the region.
“This visit allows us to clearly demonstrate an enduring defense commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and enhance Canada’s role as a trusted international partner,” it said on its Facebook page.
Canada has been paying closer attention to maintaining strong relations with Cambodia, amid concerns over China’s growing influence there and its claims on the strategically important South China Sea.
Canada is upgrading its office in Phnom Penh to a full embassy with a resident ambassador this year. Until now, bilateral relations have been managed by its embassy in neighboring Thailand, with an office in Phnom Penh.
South China Sea disputes
Immediately before the visit to Cambodia, the HMCS Ottawa’s crew spent a couple of rest days in Surabaya, Indonesia, after the successful completion of La Perouse 25, a nine-nation maritime exercise led by the French navy, on Jan. 24, 2025.
The exercise took place in the straits of Malacca, Sunda and Lombok, which link the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Thirteen vessels from Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States and France’s Charles De Gaulle carrier strike group joined the drills, focused on maritime safety training.
The HMCS Ottawa, however, attracted most attention last month when it conducted a joint exercise codenamed Noble Wolverine with U.S. Navy destroyer USS Higgins in the disputed South China Sea.
The ships navigated through the South China Sea’s international waters while conducting communications exercises, flight operations and anti-submarine warfare training under the Chinese navy’s close watch.
China has regularly condemned what it sees as outsiders’ interference in the region over where it claims “historic rights” to almost 90% of the waterway despite protest from other littoral states.
Cambodia is not part of the South China Sea dispute but it has in recent years moved closer to China which is Cambodia’s biggest investor and provider of financial assistance.
