The U.S. embassy in Cambodia said April 3 that the Cambodian government had forced out the U.S. Navy Mobile Construction Battalion, a small unit specializing in humanitarian work, Cambodia Daily reported April 4. The group held a farewell ceremony for its final 16-person cohort stationed in the country after the Cambodian government notified it last week to "indefinitely postpone" its mission. The unit oversaw hundreds of thousands of dollars in community projects. Phnom Penh's decision follows the January 2017 cancellation of the joint Angkor Sentinel military exercises. Separately, during his visit to Cambodia, a Chinese senior official pledged China would continue to extend loans to Hun Sen's government, emphasizing Beijing's stalwart support for Phnom Penh. Cambodia is quickly becoming China's most valuable ally in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and is apparently less concerned than other states in the region about maintaining a balance between Washington and Beijing.