When the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweepers JS Etajima and JS Bungo arrived at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia on Saturday, it was the start of no ordinary port call.
The vessels were the first to dock at the base since its official inauguration on April 5, following an extensive three-year Chinese-financed expansion, a fact that Cambodia hopes will go some way toward dispelling accusations that China would have exclusive access to the facility.
