Big blow to China as Thailand scraps KRA canal project
China President Xi Jinping
In a big blow to China, Thailand on Thursday announced it willscrapa Chinese led-KRA canal project under which Beijing wanted to build a bypass to the Strait of Malacca.
It alsodelayed the purchase of two Yuan-class S26T submarines worth $724 million highlightingChina's losing grip on its key allies in Indo-Pacific Region.
Thailand took the step after facing intense pressure from its arch-rival Pheu Thai Party and the public who had raised concerns that theproposed120-kilometre mega canalwould undermine the independence of poor Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar and Cambodia, which have comparatively weak civil societies that are highly vulnerable to Chinese interference.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, fourth from left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping, fourth from right, during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing/Afp
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After thethe Galwan Valley clash in Ladakh, the Indian Navy had deployed its frontlinevessels along theMalacca Straits, a strategic chokepointbetween the Indonesian island of Sumatra that divides the Indian and Pacific Oceans andthe Malay Peninsula.
Cutting through the Isthmus of Kra in Thailand, theKRA canal project,could have been a crucial strategic asset for China, allowing the Chinese navy to move freely and quickly between its newly constructed bases in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean.
Through the project,China could have put anend to the Malacca dilemma bybypassing the Strait of Malacca,a narrow chokepoint between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra that divides the Indian and Pacific Oceans.