Cambodia will continue to pursue controversial plans to construct a US$ 1.7 billion canal that would connect its capital Phnom Penh to the sea, according to Prime Minister Hun Manet on Thursday ( Apr 11 ).
The Funan Techo river, one of Beijing’s most enticing local allies under former president Hun Sen, is the most recent Chinese-backed infrastructure project in Cambodia.
Academicians in neighboring Vietnam worry that the planned canal will make it easier for Chinese ships to sail close to the Asian coast.
The proposed 180-kilometer waterway would pass through Takeo province, where Hun Manet addressed his audience, and it was in Kep, a southern province, that Hun Manet denied.
The river is a traditional venture that will benefit our citizens, he said.
Although no specifics are available, Thai officials claim that Chinese funding will be used to initiate the canal’s construction later this year.
The river – measuring 100m broad and 5.4m deep – would join Phnom Penh with Thai ports on the Gulf of Thailand, bypassing Vietnam’s standard way.
Hun Manet refuted media reports citing two researchers from a Taiwanese state-backed institute who claimed the canal did bring Chinese warships nearer to the Vietnamese border.
” We will not allow ( any country ) to use our country as a base against another country, let alone a military base”, he said.
He added that the river would be too deep for a battleship. The canal, according to the prime minister, may improve the country’s economy and benefit millions of people.