π΄π»π³ Its best not to be ungrateful when dealing with China. When China talks to you nicely, do not bargain too hard, or you will regret it. Vietnam has experienced this deeply.
Excavation of the Funan Canal in Cambodia directly cut off Vietnam's financial resources and lifeline, x.com
Excavation of the Funan Canal in Cambodia directly cut off Vietnam's financial resources and lifeline, x.com
and all this was completely Vietnam's own destruction. China has always wanted to build a Pan-Asian railway covering the entire Eurasian continent, especially to connect the railway networks of Southeast Asian countries. In the early days, three lines were planned:
the China-Vietnam Railway, the China-Thailand Railway, and the China-Myanmar Railway.
Among them, the China-Vietnam railway is the one we are most optimistic about, because Vietnam's economy is relatively more developed in Southeast Asia.
Among them, the China-Vietnam railway is the one we are most optimistic about, because Vietnam's economy is relatively more developed in Southeast Asia.
If we can open a railway from Yunnan to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, it will be beneficial to the economy of southwest China. It is also a great benefit to Vietnam. After the completion of the China-Vietnam Railway,
Ho Chi Minh City will be able to become a major artery hub for land and sea transportation in Southeast Asia. In addition, Vietnam has a long and narrow terrain, with a north-south span of only 1,600 km.
If there is a high-speed railway connecting Hanoi, the capital in the north, and Ho Chi Ninh, the economic center in the south, it will be of great benefit to Vietnam's economic, tourism, cultural and political integration.
Building the China-Vietnam railway is a win-win situation, but Vietnam doesn't think so. They did not choose to cooperate with China, which has stronger high-speed rail technology, but instead turned around and gave the project to Japan. Vietnam did this for two reasons.
They have always been wary of China, believing that it would be easier for Chinese troops to move south after the opening of the China-Vietnam Railway. Given China's current strength, what difference does it make whether there is a high-speed railway or not?
The Vietnamese government, like the Indians, has the second reason for rejecting China's high-speed rail in Vietnam because of its blind self-confidence. Vietnam believes that it is the strongest country in Southeast Asia and is as powerful as China, the US and Russia.
Without Vietnamβs participation, Chinaβs B&R strategy would not have developed so smoothly. So in Vietnamβs view, it is China that is begging for cooperation with Vietnam, and Vietnam is the dominant party.
They want to use Japan to lower China's offer as much as possible, but we don't have to pay any attention to Vietnam. In 2007, Vietnam formally invited Japan. Subsequently, Japan gave a high-speed rail construction plan.
The construction period is as long as 20 years, the average speed is only 200km/h, and the cost is a staggering οΌ58.7 billion, which is not only far higher than China's offer, but also one-third of Vietnam's annual GDP. Vietnam simply cannot afford this price.
They could only bargain with Japan and discuss whether they could build the railway in the form of loans. Almost 20 years have passed, and to this day, there is no sign of it, while Chinese high-speed railways are everywhere in Southeast Asia.
Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway in Indonesia has a speed of 350 km/h. It was officially started in June 2018 and will be completed and put into operation in 2023. The Laotian section of China-Thailand Railway will be opened to traffic in 2021, bringing huge benefits to Laos.
In two years, Laos section of the China-Thailand Railway carried 24.2 million passengers and 20.19 million tons of freight, which helped Laos achieve an average annual GDP growth rate of 6.7%, transforming it from poorest country in world into one of fastest-growing economies.
The wealthy Laotians even went to Vietnam to marry wives. Vietnam was extremely worried. They began to regret handing over the high-speed railway to Japan. They came to China many times to seek cooperation and wanted us to build the high-speed railway again.
China did not agree to cooperate with Vietnam on high-speed rail because even at this time, Vietnam had not yet recognized the situation and still overestimated its influence. It wanted China to provide loans and transfer core technologies!
Vietnam thinks of itself as a major power in Southeast Asia. China, the United States and Russia all ask them to do things. They will never realize that in the eyes of real major powers, such behavior can only be regarded as clown.
China would not care if they just played both sides, but after the new Vietnamese leader To Lin came to power, Vietnam did even worse. In mid-July, Vietnam submitted a case for delimitation of the continental shelf in the South China Sea to the UN.
At one point, it reached out to Guangdong Province in China. On July 31, Vietnam sent a delegation to visit the US and immediately held a joint maritime military exercise with the Philippines. Vietnam did this to increase its bargaining chips in negotiations with China.
If China does not agree to help Vietnam build a high-speed railway according to Vietnam's request, then they will make trouble on other issues. They may even join forces with the US to deal with China. These things have touched China's bottom line!
We must let Vietnam know that their little tricks are nothing compared to real strength. The Vietnamese delegation arrived in the US on July 31, and on August 1, China announced the launch of the Funan Canal project in Cambodia.
On August 4, third day after Vietnamese delegation returned from the US, the Funan Canal project officially started. Is this timing a coincidence or intentional? When the Funan Canal project is fully completed, Ho Chi Minh City's financial resources will be completely cut off.
Economic lifeline of Vietnam as a whole will be hit hard! Because goods from inland Cambodia no longer need to go through Vietnam, they can directly reach coastal province of Kep Province through canal and be shipped at local ports to be exported to countries around the world.
Ho Chi Minh City is the largest port city and economic center of Vietnam. The excavation of the Funan Canal directly deprived Ho Chi Minh City of its status as a seaport. The Cambodian government even gave the entire country a paid day off for this reason.
After the canal is dug, Cambodia's local tourism, finance, and infrastructure will develop. Originally, all of this was a benefit to Wu Zhiming City. While China was talking nicely, Vietnam was playing tricks.
Even some dirty political means are needed, then China can only give huge wealth to Cambodia. Now Vietnam is completely anxious. This move of China cutting off the source of funds will weaken Ho Chi Minh City and even the whole of Vietnam.
So after the new leader Su Lin officially took office, he immediately rushed to China. His first stop was to Guangdong to give a public speech. He also talked about the deep friendship between China and China, and was ready to "share the same track" with China.
The high-speed rail artery will be built from the north of Vietnam all the way to Ho Chi Minh City in the south, thus integrating itself into the Pan-Asian railway network led by China. If Vietnam can recognize the truth earlier, the prosperity will belong to Vietnam.
However, the construction of the Funan Canal has become an established fact, and Vietnam can only regret it! They hate their own lack of judgment and attempt to collude with the US, but they fail to see that all the little brothers of the US are just meat in the US' bowlβ
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