Sihanoukville: Over the discussion between USA and the Royal Government over the Ream Naval Base, Prime Minister Hun has given a strong statement during his visit to Sihanoukville this Thursday morning:

"In the case of Ream Naval Base, stop talking. I told (Defense Minister) Tea Banh that whoever wants to visit, must not allow anymore, because Ream Naval Base is not a place for thieves or robbers. Whatever you want to say I used to allow you to visit there and you are still not happy. You wanted to check and wanted to act as the top model, in which I already allowed. What is called a visit, is different from an inspection. You should understand your duties”.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has stressed that US talks over the Ream Navy Base should stop. He has reminded that back in June, the Royal Government has granted the access of an American visit to the Ream Naval Basy, but the visit has ended and not fully thanked by the American Embassy.

The request was made in June by U.S Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, over fears in Washington that Phnom Penh was allowing Beijing to build its own naval base on the Gulf of Thailand.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that the base remains under Cambodia’s sovereign control and that China is merely funding the base’s redevelopment.

Back in June, Prime Minister Hun Sen has allowed American Defense attaché, Colonel Marcus Ferrara, to visit and inspect the Naval Base. However, U.S Embassy has posted in its Facebook page that Colonel Ferrara has decided to end its visit when he was not allowed to visit all the area of Ream Naval Base, requesting another “full inspection”.

The Ministry of National Defense of Cambodia has strongly rejected the American Embassy’s statement.

Deputy Director-General of the General Department of Politics and Foreign Affairs in the Ministry of National Defence, Lt. Gen. Suon Samnang, has said in June that American Colonel Marcus Ferrara and his officers visited several locations at the base, as requested, as well as other areas beyond the scope of the request.

"We took him to Ream Port, which he suspected was a Chinese military base. Then we took him to an Australian-funded workshop nearby. He then wanted to visit the hospital, twice, and finally, we took him to see the new location of the frontline headquarters of the National Maritime Commission on Koh Preap."

"He requested access to other places that were not deemed necessary and that did not form part of the original request that had been made.”

At the same occasion, Special Adviser to National Defense Minister Mr. Tea Banh, General Nem Sovath, has also slammed the U.S Embassy’s statement. He said it’s a “big misconception” that Cambodia did not cooperate on that day.

Defense Minister Tea Banh said at that time, that foreign visits to military bases are limited everywhere around the globe, not just in

Cambodia and that the U.S. Embassy’s latest request to visit more locations at Ream Naval Base will require further talks between the two countries. He completed the statement saying that U.S needs to understand that Cambodia has every right to limit unfettered access to one of its military bases.

While the U.S has requested in June that the visit should be rescheduled, again with what it calls “full access” and at the “earliest opportunity”, it has not said what exactly “full access” means to what is a military base owned by another sovereign country.

^{PHOTO: SARY}