Cambodia is not going to negotiate over Funan Techo canal: Hun Sen

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Cambodia’s chief Hun Sen has stated that his nation wouldn’t negotiate with Vietnam over the deliberate Funan Techo canal, regardless of issues about its environmental and geopolitical impacts.

A bunch of Vietnamese consultants recommended final week that Hanoi ought to ask Phnom Penh to delay the mission for additional discussions.

Former prime minister Hun Sen, who’s now the president of the Senate and nonetheless retains a lot energy, advised a enterprise banquet that building of the 180 km (112 mile) canal will go forward as deliberate this 12 months, emphasizing the mission was of nationwide curiosity.

The Funan Techo canal, formally generally known as the Tonle Bassac Navigation Highway and Logistics System Mission, will join the Cambodian coastal province of Kep on the Gulf of Thailand with the inland provinces of Kandal and Takeo and the capital Phnom Penh through a tributary of the Mekong River.

It will likely be developed by a Chinese language firm at a price of US$1.7 billion and, when operational in 2028,  will assist scale back Cambodia’s dependence on Vietnam’s sea ports for its worldwide commerce.

However the mission has raised issues in Vietnam the place the rice-growing Mekong delta is susceptible to sea water incursions if the Mekong’s move is decreased. A sequence of dams on the river in China to the north has already raised fears about flows downstream. 

Some Vietnamese consultants stated the Cambodian canal might “scale back the move of the river by as much as 50%” in Vietnam’s delta, residence to 17.four million folks.

Hun Sen dismissed the priority, saying any lack of water would have an effect on Cambodia first.

No mistake in 47 years

The Funan Techo canal mission was proposed and authorised when Hun Sen was head of the federal government and analysts say it’s being seen as considered one of his nice legacies.

“Hun Sen has by no means made a unsuitable choice previously 47 years,” the veteran chief, referring to himself, advised a dinner hosted by the Cambodian Oknha Affiliation. Oknha is a title bestowed on Cambodians who’re dedicated to charity or beneficiant with donations to the federal government.

Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge soldier who defected to combat alongside Vietnamese forces, and who first grew to become prime minister in a authorities arrange by Vietnam after it invaded Cambodia, stated his nation “shouldn’t be inferior to Vietnam.”

“Cambodia is aware of the best way to defend its pursuits, Vietnam doesn’t have to care,” the Senate president was quoted in Cambodian media as saying.

Whereas calling for Vietnam’s understanding, Hun Sen stated Cambodia’s japanese neighbor additionally “constructed plenty of dams to guard their crops and these have an effect on Cambodia.”

He stated he was not pushing Cambodians to hate Vietnamese folks and the Vietnamese aspect should do the identical, the Khmer Occasions quoted him as saying.

Vietnamese analysts say the canal might even have safety implications by permitting naval forces to function on inland waterways close to the Vietnamese border. Vietnam’s international ministry this month urged Cambodia to offer info and an affect evaluation on the water assets and ecological stability of the delta area.

The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh has additionally referred to as for extra info, saying that whereas america respects “Cambodia’s sovereignty in inside governance and improvement choices,” the Cambodian folks in addition to folks in neighboring international locations “would profit from transparency on any main enterprise with potential implications for regional water and agricultural sustainability.”

“We urge authorities to coordinate intently with the Mekong River Fee (MRC) to offer further mission particulars and to take part totally in any applicable environmental affect research to assist the MRC and member international locations totally perceive, assess, and put together for any doable impacts of the mission,” an embassy spokesperson stated final week.

Edited by Mike Firn.