Scmp: Dara Sakor Seashore Resort is for Chinese Tourists or Chinese Military?

• 5 March 2019
• Local News
• 4566 Views

Source: South China Morning Post

After an article entitled ‘Is Cambodia’s Koh Kong project for Chinese tourists – or China’s military?’ was published by renowned media outlet, South China Morning Post (SCMP), on 05 March the question has become a controversial topic among domestic and international readers.

The article has raised questions as to whether the analysis is true and over the future of the project in Koh Kong province.

The development to the SCMP article refers to is the multi-billion-dollar Dara Sakor Seashore Resort which is an investment by Chinese firm, the Union Development, in Koh Kong province, which stretches over an area of 45,000 hectares of concession land.

Due to the ambition of the project, SCMP reported that sceptics are worried that the project looks too good to be true just to welcome Chinese tourists and believes that it is much more about welcoming the Chinese military.

Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, was quoted in SCPM as saying that the runway of the airport inside the project is about 3,400 metres long, which is longer than Phnom Penh International Airport and capable of accommodating any plane in the Chinese air force.

In addition, Paul Chambers, a regional analyst at Naresuan University, told This Week in Asia that senior Cambodian officials privately admitted that the Cambodian Prime Minister was considering approving a Chinese naval base there

Furthermore, analysts believed that this project is backed by the Chinese government due to the fact that the project has been supported by many key Chinese government officers such as Zhang Gaoli, the former vice-premier of China and chairman of the leading group for Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative; and also Wang Qinmin, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

Moreover, the 99-year-old land concession period is also one of the reasons persuading the analysts to relate this issue to the Chinese military plan. Chambers noted that he is skeptical of the land concession deal as the land is three times larger than the maximum size of the concession law based on the Cambodian constitution.

In an attempt to clarity the expert’s viewpoint, SCMP has also contacted the Cambodian Defence Ministry spokesman Chum Socheat, but could not be reached. However, SCMP finally could reach the government spokesman Phay Siphan, and he claimed that he had “no idea” whether the Cambodian government had any oversight of the project.

As the matter of fact, the analysis is solely dependent on the views from scholars. There has yet any official document released from both Chinese and Cambodian government regarding this questionable plan.

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