By Pham Phan Long Cambodia is pushing ahead with plans to link the nation’s capital, Phnom Penh, to its coast with a canal running 180 kilometers, or 110 miles. According to Cambodian leaders, 51% or more of the canal’s cost will be covered by Cambodian companies and the remainder by a Chinese build-operate-transfer (BOT) firm. Groundbreaking has been scheduled for Aug. 5. Cambodia has thus far flatly refused to consult about the canal project’s likely transboundary impacts with Vietnam and other Mekong River Commission stakeholders. Although Cambodia’s leaders insist the canal is a prudent in…