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A Jungle Airstrip Stirs Suspicions About China’s Plans For Cambodia

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Dara Sakor International Airport will boast the longest runway in Cambodia once completed sometime next year. It will include a tight turning bay favored by fighter jet pilots while nearby, workers are clearing trees from a national park, making way for a port deep enough that could be used by naval ships. The Chinese company building both the airstrip and the port claim that they are for civilian use. However, the scale of the land deal made at Dara Sakor, which covers 20 percent of Cambodia’s coastline, has caused some concern, especially since what has been built thus far is already decaying in a malaria-ridden, jungle.
The Chinese projects are stirring fears that Beijing plans to turn Cambodia into a de facto military outpost. The far-flung Chinese construction boom–which includes the African nation of Djibouti, some located on islands in the South China Sea, is causing alarm regarding China’s military ambitions during a time when the United States military presence in the regions has diminished.
Even so, as China is extending its might overseas, it is coming up against a regional security umbrella-shaped by the United States decades ago. Cambodia was thought to be firmly settled in the democratic political arena.

 

Chinese building projects are stirring fears over China's military ambitions in Cambodia

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