China had previously informed Thailand about its tank procurement programme for Cambodia, which it said had been planned before the Thai-Cambodian border confrontation, Thai Defence Ministry spokesperson Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri said today.
The information was conveyed through representatives of the Chinese military attaché's office at the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, Surasant said.
The spokesperson was responding to viral reports concerning China's tank procurement programme for Cambodia. Some commentators claimed the move showed that China was taking Phnom Penh's side in its border tensions with Thailand.
Several news reports also published images that they claimed showed the tanks being transported on roads in Cambodia.
The reports further alleged that a Chinese military attaché visited the Defence Ministry on Monday to brief Thai officials on the matter.
Surasant, however, denied the claim, saying there was no record of any Chinese military attaché visiting the ministry that day. He said the report was unlikely to be true because the defence minister and several senior military commanders were overseas on official duties at the time.
Surasant added that the ministry had checked with the Office of Defence Policy and Planning, which is responsible for receiving and coordinating visits by foreign military representatives, and was informed that no Chinese military attaché had met ministry officials.
According to earlier reports, 40 Chinese-made Type-59D tanks, the first batch of 93, arrived at Cambodia's Sihanoukville port on June 5th, as part of a procurement agreement concluded before the recent Thai-Cambodian clashes.
A second shipment, along with additional military equipment, is reportedly expected in the near future.
Analysts cited in the reports suggested that China's military support for Cambodia could be linked to Beijing's long-term access to Ream Naval Base, a strategic facility on Cambodia's southern coast that China has helped finance and expand.
