China Starting signal for Cambodia's controversial Funan Techo Canal

Cambodia is building a canal on the Mekong River despite all environmental and geopolitical concerns. Head of government Hun Manet gave the go-ahead for work on the 180-kilometer-long and up to 100-meter-wide Funan Techo Canal in the province of Kandal, as reported by the newspaper "Khmer Times".

Gongs, bells and drums rang out during the laying of the foundation stone for the project in the communist-ruled country in South East Asia.

The canal, which will cost the equivalent of more than 1.5 billion euros, will strengthen Cambodia's political independence but will not harm the environment, said Manet. Thanks to a new ownership structure, Cambodia would also not lose sovereignty over the new waterway, he assured in response to concerns expressed by some observers.

Manet emphasized that this was not a loan that the state had taken out from another country for the construction. Previous reports had stated that the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) was financing the construction in full and in return would receive usage rights for 50 years. However, CRBC's share has now been significantly reduced from 100 to 49 percent, said Manet. "Therefore, Cambodian companies and state-owned enterprises are the majority owners here, (....). Sovereignty cannot be lost here," he said.

Concerns about Beijing's future role

The artificial waterway is expected to be completed in 2028. It will connect the capital Phnom Penh directly with the country's ports in the Gulf of Thailand. In future, almost all Cambodian goods transportation will be handled via this direct route. Neighboring Vietnam is likely to lose a lot of revenue from the transit of goods along the Mekong Delta. The neighboring country is also concerned that the canal could further reduce the amount of water in the delta, which is already impaired by a series of dams on Chinese territory, and thus affect rice cultivation, among other things.

There are also concerns about Beijing's future role, explained expert Ngo The Vinh, a prominent researcher on the Mekong Delta and author. In many parts of the world, China is trying to bind poorer countries to it by financing infrastructure projects. Analysts say the canal could also make it easier for China to move military forces south, close to Vietnam's southern coast. Relations between Vietnam and its giant northern neighbor are often frosty because Beijing lays claim to territory in the South China Sea that Hanoi also claims.

But Cambodia's long-term ruler Hun Sen, who handed over power to his son Hun Manet last year after nearly four decades in power, denied that the canal would give Chinese ships access to the interior. "Why should Cambodia bring Chinese troops into its country, which is against the constitution?" he asked. At 5.4 meters deep, the waterway is also too shallow for warships.

SDA