Webinar: Regional Impact of PRC Security Presence in Mainland Southeast Asia (YCAPS-JUMP)

December 10, 2020 , 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm (Asia/Tokyo)

On December 10, 2020, JUMP and the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS) hosted our seventeenth YCAPS-JUMP webinar at 7:30 PM JST. This is part of an ongoing series exploring interesting and contemporary topics relevant to our base communities and beyond. An expert panel discussed the regional impact of the growing PRC security presence in mainland Southeast Asia. Over 60 participants joined the online event through Google Meet.

In recent years, the PRC has been increasing the presence of its security forces in several Southeast Asian Mekong River states. Perhaps the clearest example of this growth is the joint river patrols organized between the PRC, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. According to Xinhua News, the 98th such patrol was completed on 23 Oct 2020. Some international analysts are also voicing suspicion that Cambodia may make Ream Naval Base and Dara Sakor airfield available for use by the PRC military, although senior Cambodia officials reject this claim. The panelists discussed their perspectives on these developments in term of the anticipated impact of regional security and international relationship. Factors to be considered included piracy, smuggling and other illicit crimes as well as traditional security concerns associated with a growth in PRC military power.

Featured speakers included Dr. Cheunboran Chanborey, Program Director and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Asian Vision Institute in Cambodia, Mr. Drake Long, former South China Sea Correspondent for RadioFreeAsia and 2020 Asia-Pacific Fellow for Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, and Dr. Carlyle Thayer, Emeritus Professor from The University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Mr. John Bradford, Executive Director of YCAPS, moderated the event and the Q&A that followed the speakers’ discussions.

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