Global Times reports on the launching of the construction of the Techo Funan Canal, which will connect the Mekong River near the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, to the Gulf of Thailand, allowing the capital region to export via the canal rather than shipping down the Mekong to Vietnamese ports. Global Times responds to complaints from Vietnam and the West by noting that this is yet another Chinese project which, in total, will greatly improve the trade and connectivity capacity for the entire Southeast Asian region, Vietnam included.
GT writes that the $1.7 billion project is yet another contribution by China to connecting trade through the region. Examples given are the Laotian high-speed rail, the Thai high-speed rail—which will eventually connect to the railroad in Laos, thus connecting Bangkok to Laos and on to Kunming—and the rail-pipeline connection from China through Myanmar to the Bay of Bengal. Vietnam is also in the planning stage for building two high-speed rail connections directly into China.
