Phnom Penh rejects declare that venture may have army purposes and threaten regional safety
A proposed canal in Cambodia is the most recent China-funded infrastructure venture in Washington’s crosshairs.
The US is urging larger transparency from Cambodia over a deliberate $1.7-billion canal that observers say might be used to bolster China’s army presence within the nation, posing a possible safety menace to regional neighbours like Vietnam.
Spanning some 180 kilometres from Phnom Penh to the coastal province of Kep, development on the the Techo Funan Canal is scheduled to start later this yr after the state-owned China Bridge and Highway Company landed a deal to develop it throughout a Belt and Highway summit in October.
“The Cambodian individuals — together with individuals in neighbouring nations and the broader area — would profit from transparency on any main endeavor with potential implications for regional water administration, agricultural sustainability, and safety,” Wesley Holzer, public diplomacy officer on the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, wrote in response to questions from Bloomberg relating to the venture.
Former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen claims the canal would solely be used to stimulate financial exercise.
Touted as Cambodia’s first inland river dredging venture, the Techo Funan Canal will take round 4 years to finish and can boast a complete size simply 15km shorter than that of the Suez Canal. Like many infrastructure tasks, it may doubtlessly be used for army functions and is drawing related issues from Vietnam.
Vietnamese teachers fear that the venture may assist the transport of army ships from the Gulf of Thailand the place Washington believes China is constructing its first abroad base within the Indo-Pacific area — and can be involved concerning the canal’s environmental impression, together with that it’s going to direct water away from the Mekong river.
“We urge authorities to coordinate intently with the Mekong River Fee to offer further venture particulars and to take part absolutely in any acceptable environmental impression research to assist the MRC and member nations absolutely perceive, assess, and put together for any attainable impacts of the venture,” Holzer mentioned.
China’s Ministry of International Affairs didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The venture comes as Prime Minister Hun Manet has deepened already shut ties with Beijing since taking the reins from his father lower than a yr in the past. Cambodia’s relationship with the US stays rocky, with appreciable pressure over a variety of points together with human rights, press freedom and the suppression of political opposition.
Washington has repeatedly expressed concern over what it sees because the rising affect of China’s army within the nation, together with the Beijing-supported redevelopment of the Ream Naval Base.
Navy specialists say the canal “will create the mandatory depth, sufficient for army ships to journey from the Gulf of Thailand, or from the Ream base, deep into the inside”, Vietnam’s state-controlled Individuals’s Public Safety Political Academy mentioned in a commentary printed on its web site final month, citing exterior analysis.
“The Funan Techo Canal will not be merely a socio-economic growth venture but additionally has nice army worth and has a robust impression on the protection and safety scenario of all the area.”
Hun Sen, who’s now president of Cambodia’s senate, this week dismissed unspecified “slanderous stories concerning the presence of Chinese language troops on the Ream,” from “non-friends” who he mentioned at the moment are twisting the true use of the canal.
“Why would Cambodia deliver Chinese language troops into its nation, which violates the structure? And why would China deliver its troops to Cambodia, which is opposite to the precept of respect for Cambodia’s independence?” he wrote in a submit on X.
“This important infrastructure facilitates agricultural actions by offering water for crop cultivation, is sweet for water administration in the course of the wet season, and will increase freshwater fish manufacturing, amongst different advantages.”
