At the southern tip of the Asian continent, there is a long and narrow peninsula separating the Gulf of Thailand from the Andaman Sea, known as the Malay Peninsula. ^//^ Because of the existence of the Malay Peninsula, the route from the South China Sea to the Andaman Sea has to make a big detour, passing through the Strait of Malacca between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The Malay Peninsula is a very narrow stretch of land belonging to Thailand, the narrowest point is only about 50 kilometers, and from the map, it is almost as slender as a bee's waist, and this section is the Kra Isthmus. As early as 400 years ago, the idea of building a canal on the Kra Isthmus to connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea would eliminate the need for ships to circumnavigate the Strait of Malacca.

Discussions over the construction of the Kra Isthmus Canal have been intermittent over the past few hundred years, and the Thai government's interest in building the canal has grown as oil shipments from the Middle East to East Asia have increased.

In 1972, the Thai Petroleum Refining Company and the Petrochemical Company commissioned an engineering consortium from the American Research Institute to study the economic efficiency of the Kra Canal, and later, the Bremen Institute of Maritime Transport Economics of the Federal Republic of Germany also participated in the work, and the project was shelved because the research institute estimated the cost of excavation at $6 billion, which the Thai government could not afford.

In 2001, the Thai government brought up the Kra Canal again, and Japan supported it. Due to inflation and other reasons, the budget for this project reached 20 billion US dollars, which was called the "project of the century" by the media.

According to the Thai government's vision, the Kra Canal will be dug near the narrowest point of the Kra Isthmus, with a total length of about 102 kilometers, a width of 400 meters, and a water depth of 25 meters, which can accommodate a fleet of tankers with a total deadweight of 500,000 tons. It is estimated that if the Kra Canal is completed, oil tankers from the Persian Gulf to East Asia can save 700 miles of voyage and shorten the voyage time by 2-5 days. This saves $300,000 per trip. In addition, the Strait of Malacca can only pass a fleet of 250,000 tons due to the siltation of the shipping channel, which is also unrivaled by the Kra Canal.

In addition to economic considerations. The Kra Isthmus has a number of other advantages, not least the safety of shipping. The Strait of Malacca, which is more than 1,000 kilometers long, is divided between Malaysia and Indonesia, and both governments have weak control over the area, leading to piracy. According to statistics, half of the world's pirate attacks occur in the Strait of Malacca every year, and pirates are the most popular to visit. It's the big, slow-moving tankers. **

The construction of the Kra Canal will allow oil tankers to avoid this dangerous sea area, thus avoiding international trade losses of more than 10 billion US dollars. Japan, which is heavily dependent on oil from the Persian Gulf, has been very interested in digging the canal.

In China, there are also some people in the industry discussing the issue of the Kra Canal, with the increase in the dependence on import and export trade, China to replace Japan as the largest customer of shipping in the Strait of Malacca is just around the corner, and the significance of digging the Kra Canal for China. It is increasingly recognized by relevant government departments, shipping companies and academia.

Chen Tian is very clear about these things, but Lin Zhenhua is a little hindsight. Even if he's a traverser. In the era he traveled, the Kra Canal was still an idea, not a reality. One of the most important reasons for this is Singapore's opposition.

The Kra Canal is an alternative to the Straits of Malacca, and once the Kra Canal is completed, the number of ships passing through the Straits of Malacca will be reduced by at least half, if not altogether, if not all of them will be diverted. Among them, most of the oil tankers are likely to abandon the Malacca route and choose to pass through the Kra Canal.

Singapore's prosperity today is largely due to its location at the throat of the Straits of Malacca. Since hundreds of millions of tons of oil pass through here every year. Singapore has become one of the world's top three oil trading centers, with well-developed industries such as refined oil smelting, and has become an important pillar of the local economy. …,

The Thai government pushed for the Kra Canal project because of Singapore's huge profits from the oil entrepot trade. As early as 1972, the Thai government proposed to build a southern industrial zone based on the Kra Canal. Including fertilizer, steel, petrochemical, export processing trade, ship repair and other industries, all of which are substitutes for Singapore's existing industries.

In the 2001 plan, the Thai government unabashedly proposed to build large oil refineries, oil storage depots and other facilities at both ends of the Kra Canal, which is the basis for building an oil trading center. At the instigation of the Thai government, Unocal, Mobil, and Shell of the United States, and Itochu Corporation and Mitsui Corporation of Japan have all expressed their intention to invest in the construction of oil trading and refining centers in Thailand.

In the face of the Thai government's "robbery" behavior, Singapore's political and business circles were shocked, and they vigorously denied the Kra Canal plan in the media, saying that this plan could not actually make money, and even threatened that if any country wants to invest in the Kra Canal plan, it must be prepared for the funds to be embezzled by Thai officials. On the other hand, it has launched shuttle diplomacy and united various countries to collectively resist the Kra Canal plan.

China, a newly emerging country in East Asia, is no less interested in the Kra Canal than Japan, so it has also become an important target for Singapore's lobbying. Out of consideration for maintaining the so-called "friendly relations between China and New Zealand", China has adopted a silent attitude towards the Kra Canal project, that is, it has not explicitly expressed its opposition to it and has not publicly supported it. As for the Chinese investment that the Thai government is expecting, there is naturally no news.

Lin Zhenhua has never heard of the Kra Canal, which is also due to the deliberate low-key handling of public opinion by the state. In addition, there are a number of professors in China who are paid salaries in Singapore, as well as a fledgling Internet trolls, who are constantly pouring cold water on the Kra Canal project, which also makes it impossible to discuss the plan in China.

As a high-ranking official of the Thai government, Jirapun has always had the string of the Kra Canal in his mind, and now when he hears Lin Zhenhua talk about eating deflated in Singapore, of course, he will not let go of such a great opportunity. He knew that Lin Zhenhua was an entrepreneur with some energy in China, so he hoped to take this opportunity to instill the idea of the Kra Canal into the other party.

Seeing Lin Zhenhua's dazed appearance, Chen Tian couldn't help but pull him aside and introduced the cause and effect of this incident to him. Lin Zhenhua was stunned for a moment, and after listening to it all, he took a long breath and asked, "Chen Ju, it turns out that you have always known that there is such a thing?" ”

"Nonsense, what am I doing? How could I not know that the Kra Canal is both an economic issue and a very sensitive international political one? Chen Tian said dissatisfied.

Lin Zhenhua said: "Since you already knew, why haven't I heard you talk about it?" If Gila Font doesn't mention it, don't you want to mention it at all? I'm still in the dark. ”

This time it was Chen Tian's turn to be stunned, and he asked, "Zhenhua, you don't want to say that you are really interested in this plan, right?" ”

"Why not?" Lin Zhenhua asked rhetorically.

Chen Tian thought for a while and said: "The construction of the Kra Isthmus will bring a devastating blow to Singapore's economy, and it will inevitably cause strong dissatisfaction from Singapore, so ......"

"So we're scared?" Lin Zhenhua said unceremoniously: "When these grandsons kept saying that they were going to block the Strait of Malacca, why didn't they consider our dissatisfaction? People don't treat you as a relative at all, and you still rush to think about it. If people are dissatisfied, you won't dare to do it, are you embarrassed to say that you are a big country with 1.3 billion people? ”

"Our country's policy is peaceful coexistence and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, and this principle was put forward by the leaders of the older generation, and it is not outdated today." Chen Tian explained. …,

"Chen Ju, I remember that you said it yourself two days ago, people don't offend me, I don't offend people; If anyone sins against me, I will offend. Now that Singapore has bullied us, what else do we mention about peaceful coexistence, isn't this self-deception? Lin Zhenhua said.

Chen Tian frowned, he began to realize that Lin Zhenhua's words may be right, the country tries to show the image of a responsible big country in many things, and has always adopted a patient attitude towards the harassment of the surrounding Xiaoxiao, and when making any major decisions, it must also try to avoid causing damage to the surrounding countries. Now it seems that there are naturally some countries that appreciate it, but there are also many countries that give their noses and faces, and we really don't need to give them too many opportunities for this kind of country that repays virtue with grievances.

"However, our country does not participate in the construction of the Kra Canal, in addition to political considerations, there are also economic considerations, right?" Chen Tian found a step for himself, "We once asked experts to demonstrate, and experts believe that after the completion of the Kra Canal, it can only save more than 1,000 kilometers of transportation distance, compared with the range of tens of thousands of kilometers, the saving is not large." The construction of the Kra Canal is a significant investment, and it may take decades to recoup these investments, which is not economically viable. ”

"Whew!" Lin Zhenhua said disdainfully, "Your security department should go and check the old background of these experts, I estimate that one is counted as one, all of them are commercial literati with Singaporean funding." How big can an investment of 200 billion be? How to calculate the security value of opening up a new channel for our country with 20 billion yuan? According to their theory, the navy will go to the Gulf of Aden to escort ships, and the cost of fuel will be greater than the loss of merchant ships robbed by pirates, so why don't we go? ”

"There's some truth to what you said." Chen Tian nodded. He is a government official, and when he thinks about problems, he is greatly constrained by the rules and regulations of national policy, and he will unconsciously fall into a fixed state of mind. Lin Zhenhua is in the market, coupled with the innate advantage of being a traverser, he thinks about problems more eclecticly, which is also the reason why Chen Tian is willing to take Lin Zhenhua out to do things. Hearing Lin Zhenhua's statement, Chen Tian had to admit that Lin Zhenhua's idea was right. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )