Wang had a day earlier been pictured swimming in the ocean with Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh, who said they had gone for a dip “in order to strengthen cooperation” between the two countries.

Tea Banh is expected to meet with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and other officials at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore this weekend, according to Cambodia’s Defence Ministry.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Tea Banh thanked China and its army for “providing non-binding grants” for sand dredging and for the construction of new facilities at the base, which he said included a dry dock for repairing ships that Cambodia has not previously had.

“The Kingdom of Cambodia will not allow any foreign military base in Cambodia,” he said.

“The Kingdom of Cambodia retains the rights to receive military aid, weapons and training of the armed forces and for self-defence and to maintain social order and security. Therefore, the modernisation of Ream Naval Base is not a strange issue”.

The event was broadcast on state-friendly website Fresh News.

Loading

Chao Phirun, a senior Defence Ministry official who was last year sanctioned by the US over allegations he “conspired to profit from activities regarding the construction and upgrading of the Ream Naval Base facilities”, also spoke at the event.

He said China had provided 36,900 sets of naval uniforms and Chinese workers would also build a hospital, a slipway and a ship repair warehouse over the next two years. He also proposed that the Chinese government provide additional aid to help modernise his country’s armed forces.

Ream faces the Gulf of Thailand, adjacent to the South China Sea, where China has aggressively asserted its claim to virtually the entire strategic waterway under its so-called nine-dash line. A Chinese base in Cambodia could become a choke point in the region close to the strategically important Malacca Strait.

Wong’s office was contacted for comment.

- with Nara Lon and AP