China, Central African Republic elevate bilateral ties

© XinhuaChinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Central African Republic's President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, September 6, 2024.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Central African Republic's President Faustin-Archange Touadera announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a strategic partnership during a meeting in Beijing Friday.

Touadera is in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

China is willing to strengthen exchanges with the Central African Republic on state governance to create a better and happier life for the people of both countries, Xi said.

Back in June, it seems the West made its best efforts to forestall the inevitable: Central African Republic charges European agent of US NGO with plotting coup, says UN in arming rebels

Xi also expressed the hope that the Central African Republic will provide a safer business environment for Chinese enterprises.

Touadera said the Central African Republic adheres to the one-China principle. The country highly appreciates China's leading role in international affairs and is willing to enhance multilateral coordination with China, he added.

He also expressed the hope to work actively with China to implement the outcomes of the summit, advance Belt and Road cooperation, and deepen cooperation in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, mining, energy, the digital economy and capacity building, thereby elevating the bilateral relationship to new heights.

Cambodia says China gifting 2 warships as it finishes work expanding strategically important port

Cambodia's Defense Ministry said Wednesday that China is giving its navy two warships of the type it has had docked for months at a strategically important base being expanded with Beijing's funding, which has raised concerns of China establishing a permanent naval presence on the Gulf of Thailand.

Ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata told The Associated Press that China would give Cambodia two newly built Type 56 corvettes, smaller vessels typically used for coastal patrols, next year at the earliest.

She would not comment on reports that China also planned to hand over to Cambodia newly expanded facilities at Ream Naval Base, including a lengthy new pier capable of accommodating much larger naval vessels than Cambodia has in its own fleet. Maly did say the final phase of construction would soon be completed.

The United States and others have expressed concerns about China's navy establishing a base at Ream, which would give it easy access to the Malacca Strait, a critical shipping route between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile the US thinks this is fine: US army stations special forces 'permanently' near mainland China's coast, begins training Taiwan's troops

Those concerns grew after two Type 56 corvettes docked at the newly built pier in December, and have maintained a presence there on-and-off ever since.

Cambodia has said one of the reasons the Chinese corvettes have been there for so long was that it was considering similar warships for its own navy, and for training.

Maly said the two corvettes being given to Cambodia, the Type 56C variant, came after Cambodia requested China's support.

"It is in the aim of strengthening the capacity and ability of Cambodia to protect and maintain peace, stability, security as well as for supporting search and rescue operations and other humanitarian activities," she said.

China's Foreign Affairs Ministry would not comment on the ships or the report that Beijing would turn over the newly expanded Ream base facilities to Cambodia, telling the AP in a faxed reply to a query that "we're not aware of the relevant information."

Controversy over the Chinese activity at the Ream base initially arose in 2019 when The Wall Street Journal reported that an early draft of a reputed agreement seen by U.S. officials would allow China 30-year use of the base, where it would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships.

Cambodia's then-Prime Minister Hun Sen denied there was such an agreement, emphasizing that Cambodia's Constitution did not allow foreign military bases to be established on its soil.

Chinese work on the base has continued and Hun Sen's successor as prime minister, his son Hun Manet, has insisted the same thing.

If China's People's Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, were to be granted preferred, or exclusive, access to Ream in exchange for the warships it is giving Cambodia and for its work on the base, it could be a deft way to work around the constitutional issues, said Euan Graham, a senior defense analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

As of right now, that's baseless speculation.

"It's quite a smart move, as it allows Cambodia to maintain its line that it hasn't deviated from the constitution by creating a foreign base. And China has no shortage of warships to donate," he said.

"I expect that China may retain a naval complement on board the corvettes, post-transfer. The real question is what level of access the PLAN will have to Ream, and whether that access is exclusive," Graham added.

China currently only operates one acknowledged foreign military base, in the impoverished but strategically important Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, but many believe that its military is busy establishing an overseas network.

The U.S. has more foreign military bases than any other country, including multiple facilities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Thus far, only Chinese naval vessels have been given permission to use the new pier. In February, two Japanese destroyers were routed instead to the nearby Sihanoukville commercial port. A Royal Australian Navy frigate was also directed to Sihanoukville for a port call ending Wednesday.

Maly said Cambodia had the right to promote cooperation with all partners for its benefit, so long as constitutional regulations were followed.

"Cooperation has to comply with the goals and the principles of the Cambodian Constitution especially the protection of its sovereignty, integrity and independence," Maly said.

And China has proven that it abides by these principles. The US? Not so much.

Cambodia is China's closest ally in Southeast Asia, while China is Cambodia's most important ally and benefactor, with a strong influence on its economy.

Beyond military projects, China funds numerous others in Cambodia — particularly infrastructure, including airports and roads, but also private projects such as hotels, casinos and property development. Some 40% of Cambodia's $11 billion in foreign debt is owed to China.

Given that China was arguably the leading power in the world from c. 1100-1800, and was certainly the leading power in the East Asian region, one would anticipate that the smaller powers in that region would have balanced against it. But this in fact did not happen. The reply might be in turn that this was because China was the kingpin within the international tribute system, and was therefore an imperialist power. But arguably this system was neither imperialist nor could it be explained through the 'conventional practices' associated with Western great power politics.

- John M. Hobson

Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter has announced that the latest US sanctions imposed on RT mean he will be no longer be able to contribute to the Russian media outlet. Ritter insisted that his engagement with RT has been nothing but "legitimate journalism."

A former US Marine Corps major who also served as a UN weapons inspector in Iraq during the 1990s, Ritter came into the spotlight in 2003 when he opposed the US military operation against the Middle Eastern country. He argued that Saddam Hussein's government did not possess weapons of mass destruction, despite Washington's claims.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, Ritter stressed that the content of his contributions for RT and several other sanctioned media outlets "has been factually correct and analytically sound, and always of my own creation."

While condemning Washington's decision as running counter to "constitutional norms and values," Ritter noted that he is "fully committed to obeying US law, and as such will be terminating all contractual relationships with both RT and Sputnik effective immediately."

He expressed gratitude to his Russian colleagues for their "professionalism" and vowed to "continue to exercise my free speech rights... as a journalist free from government influence or control."

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department announced the imposition of sanctions against several Russian media outlets, including RT and a number of its employees. The US authorities accused the media outlet of "covertly recruit[ing] unwitting American influencers" in a bid to "undermine confidence in the United States' election processes and institutions" ahead of the November 5 presidential election.

Aside from visa restrictions, the targeted entities and individuals will have their property rights on US soil blocked, with all transactions prohibited unless a special waver is issued.

"The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person," the document clarified.

Last month, Ritter accused the US government of committing an "act of intimidation" and "declaring war" on him after FBI agents raided his house in New York State. The journalist said at the time that officials suspected him of working "on behalf of the Russian government" in violation of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act.

An FBI spokesperson, in turn, confirmed "law enforcement activity in connection with an ongoing federal investigation," but would not reveal any details.

Ritter dismissed the allegations against him as "absurd in the extreme."

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