China Denies Kra Canal Deal
China has denied it is involved in work on the Kra canal, defusing hype over a project that purportedly lets ships bypass the Strait of Malacca and Singapore's port, reports Strait Times.
There are no plans by the Chinese government to participate, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular press briefing.
Senior government officials in Thailand also denied reports that the country has signed an agreement with China to construct a shipping canal through the Kra Isthmus
Earlier, Chinese embassy in Thailand, which said that China has not taken part in any study or co-operation on the matter.
This comes after Chinese media recently reported that China and Thailand had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Guangzhou to build a US$28 billion (S$37 billion) canal that cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Kra in southern Thailand.
Experts told The Straits Times that China would not embark on such a project lightly, given the political and bilateral implications.
"China will have to consider the feedback from countries such as Singapore, which it has friendly ties with, given the impact that the Kra canal might have," said Dr Zhao Hong, an expert on China-ASEAN relations from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
In recent years Singapore has lost its title as the world's busiest container port to China's Shanghai port, but it is still by far the world's biggest bunker market by volume and the implications for Singapore of any such canal could be significant.
The Kra Canal would allow ships coming from the Indian Ocean to bypass the crowded Straits of Malacca in accessing the Gulf of Thailand. Plans to build a canal across the Thai peninsula have circulated before, but interest has been countered by the potential cost of the project.
The 100km-long canal would allow ships to bypass the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, saving ships some 1,200km off total distance travelled. Experts estimate that moving 100,000 tonnes worth of cargo through the canal will shorten the journey two to five days, and save approximately US$350,000 in fuel cost.
Proponents of the Kra canal had been hopeful that China would lend its economic heft to the project. They believe it can be made part of China's Maritime Silk Road, which aims to facilitate maritime trade across South-east Asia, South Asia and beyond.
