A lookout tower stands on the beach at Dara Sakor Seashore Resort in the Botum Sakor district of Koh Kong in Cambodia, on July 7, 2019.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
The U.S. Fears This Huge Southeast Asian Resort May Become a Chinese Naval Base
- $3.8 billion project encompasses 20% of Cambodian coastline
- Chinese developer allowed reporters full access to site
Along pristine Cambodian beaches, past parades of elephants in its largest national park, sits an area half the size of Singapore that is ringing alarm bells among military strategists in the U.S. and beyond.
Dara Sakor, a $3.8 billion China-backed investment zone encompassing 20% of Cambodia’s coastline, is unlike any other in the developing Southeast Asian nation. Controlled by a Chinese company with a 99-year lease, it features phased plans for an international airport, a deep-water seaport and industrial park along with a luxury resort complete with power stations, water treatment plants and medical facilities.