REAM: A US warship on Saturday made a port call at a Cambodian naval base for the first time since Chinese renovations that have raised concerns in Washington, AFP journalists saw.
The United States has said Ream Naval Base, off Cambodia’s southern coast, could give China a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand near the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.
The littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) docked Saturday morning at one of the base’s piers 150 meters (yards) away from a pair of Chinese warships.
“It is our privilege and our honor to be here as the first US naval vessel to moor pierside at Ream Naval Base, and we hope this is the beginning of a longstanding tradition and friendship,” Andrew J. Recame, the ship’s commanding officer, told reporters.
Cambodian leaders have repeatedly denied that the base is for use by any single foreign power, following US media reports in 2022 saying the new facilities at Ream — originally built partly with US funds — would be exclusively for the Chinese navy.
Ream base said in a statement that the five-day US visit would “promote cooperation between the two countries,” and that it showed Cambodia’s “commitment in implementing an open policy, transparent and cooperation with international partners.”
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and a delegation from China’s People’s Liberation Army inaugurated the base in April last year.
Hun Manet denied the new and improved facility would be for Beijing’s “exclusive” use, saying ships from other countries would be allowed to dock.
Two weeks after its inauguration, two Japanese warships were the first vessels to dock at the base.
Beijing has since 2022 been contributing to a revamp of the Ream Naval Base, which was originally built partly using US funds.
Western concerns about the base go back as far as 2019, when The Wall Street Journal reported on a secret draft deal allowing China to dock warships there.
In late 2023, Chinese warships first docked at the 363-meter (1,190-foot) pier, on Cambodia’s sole coastline in the south of the country between Thailand and Vietnam.
A US warship docked in the commercial Sihanoukville port in 2024 in the first American military port call in Cambodia in eight years.
On Saturday morning, AFP journalists saw two Chinese warships still docked at the base.
Cambodia has long been one of China’s staunchest allies in Southeast Asia, and Beijing has extended its influence over Phnom Penh in recent years.
Under former leader Hun Sen — Prime Minister Hun Manet’s father — China poured billions of dollars into infrastructure investments, while Washington’s relationship with Phnom Penh has deteriorated in recent years.
US warship makes first call at Cambodia’s Chinese-renovated naval base
https://arab.news/v3uwt
US warship makes first call at Cambodia’s Chinese-renovated naval base
- The littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati docked Saturday morning at one of the base’s piers 150 meters away from a pair of Chinese warships
8 in 10 British Muslims face ‘financial faith penalty’ when seeking home finance, survey finds
- Restricted choices plague potential buyers
LONDON: Eight in 10 British Muslims say their home finance choices are restricted because of their faith, according to a new national survey that highlighted what researchers describe as a growing “financial faith penalty” in the UK housing market.
The report, published by Islamic home finance fintech firm Offa, found that 80 percent of Muslim respondents believe their religious beliefs limit their access to suitable home finance, while those who do use Islamic products often face slower decisions, heavier paperwork and poorer customer experiences than in the conventional mortgage market.
Based on surveys of 1,000 British Muslims conducted by Muslim Census, and 2,000 non-Muslims carried out by OnePoll, the research calls on providers, brokers and policymakers to modernize Islamic home finance and improve access to Sharia-compliant products.
Among the 24.3 percent of British Muslims who have used Islamic home finance, just 5 percent said they had received a same-day decision.
Some 62 percent waited up to two weeks, while 33 percent waited more than 15 days, including 16 percent who waited over a month.
Long decision times were cited as the biggest challenge by 28 percent of respondents, followed by excessive paperwork (22.6 percent) and poor customer service (18.9 percent).
Islamic home finance differs from conventional mortgages by avoiding interest and steering investment away from sectors considered harmful to society, including gambling, alcohol, tobacco, arms trading and animal testing.
Sagheer Malik, chief commercial officer and managing director of home finance at Offa, said the findings showed British Muslims were being underserved by outdated systems.
Malik said: “Property is the asset class of choice for many of the UK’s 3.87 million Muslims, both as a route to generational wealth and as a long-term financial foundation, yet our insightful research report reveals that British Muslims are being underserved and deterred by slow, outdated and opaque Islamic home finance provision.
“This is not a niche concern. It goes to the heart of financial fairness and inclusion in modern Britain.”
He added that Muslims deserved Sharia-compliant products that matched mainstream standards on “price, speed and simplicity.”
Despite strong demand, uptake remains low.
Only 12.8 percent of British Muslims surveyed said they currently use Islamic home finance, with a further 11.5 percent having done so in the past. More than three quarters (75.7 percent) have never used it.
Faith plays a central role in financial decisions, with 94.2 percent saying it is important that their financial products align with their ethical or religious beliefs. Yet more than half of those using conventional mortgages said they felt unhappy or uneasy about doing so because of their faith.
The study also found that British Muslims share similar home ownership aspirations to the wider population, with 79.1 percent citing the desire to provide a stable home for their family, while 18.6 percent said building generational wealth was their main motivation. Only 2.2 percent said they did not want to own a home.
The report suggests Islamic finance could appeal beyond Muslim communities. While 64 percent of non-Muslim respondents had never heard of Islamic home finance, 63 percent said they favored its ethical principles once explained.
Younger generations were the most receptive, with 43 percent of Generation Z and 37 percent of millennials saying they would consider using Islamic home finance, compared with just 7 percent of baby boomers. More than three quarters of Gen Z and 72 percent of millennials also said it was important that their finance provider avoided investing in ethically harmful sectors.
Offa said the findings pointed to an opportunity to expand ethical finance in the UK, provided the industry can deliver faster, simpler and more transparent services.
