10-4-2024 (PHNOM PENH) Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen has firmly rejected recent suggestions that an upcoming navigation canal project through the country’s southern region could facilitate the entry of Chinese naval ships up the Mekong River. In a statement posted on the platform X on April 9, he questioned the rationale behind such claims.
“Why would Cambodia bring Chinese troops into its country, which violates the Constitution? And why would China bring its troops to Cambodia, which is contrary to the principle of respect for Cambodia’s independence?” he wrote.
The ambitious US$1.7 billion (S$2.3 billion), 180km Funan Techo canal project envisions linking Phnom Penh’s river port to the coast, a crucial artery for economic growth that would allow Cambodian goods to bypass Vietnamese ports and create jobs for the 1.6 million people living along the route.
Construction of the project, which connects the provinces of Kandal, Takeo, Kampot, and Kep, is expected to be carried out by Chinese companies under a build-operate-transfer arrangement. This would permit them to manage and profit from its operations for approximately 50 years in exchange for funding the project.
According to documents Cambodia submitted to the inter-governmental Mekong River Commission in August 2023, the canal is anticipated to be operational by 2028.
However, a March 2024 Vietnamese journal article cautioned that the canal was a “dual-use” project that could also facilitate a Chinese military presence deep within Cambodian territory near the Vietnamese border.
The article, authored by researchers Dinh Thien and Thanh Minh from the Oriental Research Development Institute under the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, stated: “The locks on the Funan Techo Canal can create the necessary water depths for military vessels to enter from the Gulf of Thailand, or from Ream Naval Base, and travel deep into Cambodia and approach the (Cambodia-Vietnam) border.”
Cambodia, which is upgrading its Ream Naval Base with Beijing’s assistance, has denied allegations of allowing the Chinese navy to use it as a base.
Nonetheless, the Vietnam article claimed: “The Funan Techo Canal is not simply a socio-economic project but also has major military value, which would have a strong impact on the defence and security situation of the whole region.”
This concern was among others that have surfaced recently about the proposed Cambodian canal, which had previously sparked concerns about its impact on the sensitive ecology of the Mekong Delta.
Decades of dam-building and other uncontrolled development in the Mekong River have accelerated saline intrusion in the downstream rice production area, and Vietnam has overlapping territorial claims with China in the nearby South China Sea.
While Hanoi has largely avoided commenting directly on the Cambodia canal project, Cambodian media reported that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet attempted to allay Vietnamese concerns about it during his visit to Hanoi in December 2023.
In his recent remarks, the former prime minister Hun Sen stressed that Cambodia and Vietnam “are good neighbours and have good cooperation in all fields”.
He emphasized that the canal “purely serves socio-economic benefit as it provides more waterways to south-western Cambodia (in addition) to the existing transport routes along the Mekong River”.
“This vital infrastructure facilitates agricultural activities by providing water for crop cultivation, is good for water management during the rainy season, and increases freshwater fish production, among other benefits,” he wrote, adding that the canal would have no impact on water flow in the Mekong River.
