US flags 'serious concerns' over Cambodia's China-backed navy base

In Phnom Penh, key diplomat Wendy Sherman asks for 'balanced' foreign policy

A Chinese navy ship is seen docked after an exercise with Cambodian naval officers in Sihanoukville Province, Cambodia. The province faces the Gulf of Thailand. © Reuters

SHAUN TURTON, Contributing writer

June 1, 2021 23:55 JST

Updated on June 2, 2021 01:58 JST

PHNOM PENH -- U.S. senior diplomat Wendy Sherman says Washington has "serious concerns" about China's "military presence" at a naval base undergoing Beijing-backed expansion on Cambodia's coast.

Sherman, the deputy secretary of state, made the remarks during a two-hour meeting with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday in Phnom Penh, which she described on Twitter as "candid."