{"id":5983,"date":"2024-08-06T11:39:32","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T11:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/06\/cambodia-breaks-ground-on-controversial-1-7-billion-canal-funded-by-china\/"},"modified":"2024-08-06T11:39:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T11:39:32","slug":"cambodia-breaks-ground-on-controversial-1-7-billion-canal-funded-by-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/06\/cambodia-breaks-ground-on-controversial-1-7-billion-canal-funded-by-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Cambodia breaks ground on controversial $1.7 billion canal funded by China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prek Takeo, Cambodia \u2014 <\/strong>Cambodia broke ground Monday on a controversial, China-funded canal to link the capital Phnom Penh to the sea, despite environmental concerns and the risk of straining ties with neighboring Vietnam. <\/p>\n

The $1.7 billion, 180-kilometer (111 miles) Funan Techo canal is planned to connect the country\u2019s capital with Kep province on Cambodia\u2019s south coast, giving it access to the Gulf of Thailand. <\/p>\n

Cambodia hopes the 100-meter (328 feet)-wide, 5.4-meter (17.7 feet)-deep canal will lower the cost of shipping goods to the country\u2019s sole deep-sea port, Sihanoukville, and reduce reliance on Vietnamese ports. <\/p>\n

The project highlights the outsized role that China plays in Cambodian politics and economy. Meanwhile, concerns remain about the potential environmental impacts of the canal, especially on the flow of the Mekong River, which feeds millions of people across six countries through its fish and the agriculture that it sustains. <\/p>\n

The project has Vietnam worried, both about the effect on its Mekong Delta rice-growing and about Cambodia moving out of its orbit, said Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore\u2019s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a concern that most of the Cambodian exports might be diverted from the current route, crossing the Vietnamese border to Vietnamese ports and moving away from that to Cambodian ports,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

But Hanoi has expressed its concerns quietly, if at all, Giang said. Given the \u201ccomplex historical legacy\u201d between Cambodia and Vietnam \u2014 despite strong bilateral ties, the two nations have a contentious relationship \u2014 Vietnam is reticent to openly criticize Cambodia lest it be seen as impinging on its neighbor\u2019s sovereignty, he said. <\/p>\n

Analysts say that the infrastructure project is in part an effort by Cambodia\u2019s ruling elite to invigorate support for Hun Manet, who last year took over the wheel of government from his father, Hun Sen, who led Cambodia for 38 years. <\/p>\n

The government declared Monday \u2014 also Hun Sen\u2019s birthday \u2014 a holiday so Cambodians could participate in the \u201ccelebration in a joyful, crowded and proud manner.\u201d Thousands of people wearing t-shirts with photographs of the father and son began gathering at the canal site, that was covered in Cambodian flags. Billboards promoting the economic benefits of the canal dominated the countryside. <\/p>\n

The canal will promote \u201cnational prestige, the territorial integrity and the development of Cambodia,\u201d Manet said, adding that the country had built bigger and more expensive infrastructure projects before. But this \u201chistoric\u201d canal was different and had nationwide support, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe will build this canal, no matter the cost,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

He emphasized that while the canal would be jointly built by Chinese and Cambodian companies, the latter would have a 51% majority share and thus maintain control. Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol confirmed that the Chinese state-owned construction giant China Road and Bridge Corporation had landed the contract to build the canal. <\/p>\n

The US-based nonprofit Stimson Center has warned that the canal would cause \u201csignificant transboundary impacts to water availability and agricultural production in Vietnam\u2019s Mekong Delta.\u201d The region is where 90% of rice exported from Vietnam is grown. <\/p>\n

The Cambodian government has dismissed these concerns. <\/p>\n

Earlier in April, Vietnam had asked Cambodia to share information about the canal. \u201cWe have asked Cambodia to collaborate closely with Vietnam and the Mekong River Commission in sharing information and assessing the project\u2019s impacts on water resources and ecosystem in the Mekong Delta region.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cambodia is a key Chinese diplomatic partner, helping dampen criticism of Beijing within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, several of whose members, including Vietnam, are engaged in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. <\/p>\n

China\u2019s outsized presence can be seen in the numerous Chinese-funded projects, hotels and casinos dotting the Cambodian landscape. China\u2019s state banks have financed airports, roads and other infrastructure built with Chinese loans. Nearly 40% of Cambodia\u2019s over $11 billion in foreign debt is owed to China. <\/p>\n

In June 2022, China and Cambodia broke ground on a naval port expansion project that has raised concerns from the U.S. and others that it could give Beijing a strategically important military outpost on the Gulf of Thailand. Hun Sen in 2019 reportedly granted China the right to set up a military base at the Ream Naval Base. He has long denied that, saying Cambodia\u2019s Constitution prohibits foreign military facilities. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prek Takeo, Cambodia \u2014 Cambodia broke ground Monday on a controversial, China-funded canal to link the capital Phnom Penh to the sea, despite environmental concerns and the risk of straining ties with neighboring Vietnam. The $1.7 billion, 180-kilometer (111 miles) Funan Techo canal is planned to connect the country\u2019s capital with Kep province on Cambodia\u2019s <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}