Cambodia will begin work in August on a controversial $1.7 billion canal linking the capital Phnom Penh with the ocean, Prime Minister Hun Manet announced on Thursday.
The China-backed Funan Techo canal has raised concerns in neighboring Vietnam that it could possibly be exploited by Chinese warships and reduce Cambodia’s dependence on Vietnamese ports.
Environmentalists also fear that the 180-kilometer canal will potentially reduce water flow into the Mekong, some of the biologically diverse rivers on the earth.
Cambodia has received billions from China in infrastructure investments as one in all Beijing’s closest regional allies under former leader Hun Sen.
His son Hun Manet said the Funan Techo channel could be financed mainly by Cambodians and that the federal government was in talks with the Chinese company about further investment.
“We will do it now, we will not wait for anyone anymore,” Hun Manet said in a speech on Thursday.
Exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy maintains the project will serve China’s interests.
The waterway is an element of Beijing’s massive Belt and Road Initiative – a large infrastructure project in Asia, but Hun Manet insisted it will only serve Cambodia.
“[We] do it on Cambodian territory for the Cambodian people and within the interests of Cambodia,” he said.
“We will have a groundbreaking ceremony in August.”
The canal – 100 meters wide and 5.4 meters deep – will connect Phnom Penh with Cambodian ports on the Gulf of Thailand.
Cambodia and China also concluded their largest annual military drills on Thursday, involving several Chinese warships and tons of of Chinese military personnel.
In December, two Chinese warships made their first visit to a Cambodian naval base that the United States says could possibly be used to expand China’s influence within the Gulf of Thailand.
Cambodian officials have repeatedly denied that the bottom near the port city of Sihanoukville is meant for any foreign power.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Cambodia on Tuesday.
