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The Thirsty Dragon: Mekong Water Use Tests China’s Claimed ‘Good-Neighborliness’
May 16th, 2023
Via The Pacific Forum, a look at China’s use of Mekong River water: China claims to be a uniquely benevolent international actor—a great power that, unlike other great powers past and present, does not practice “power politics” (self-interested bullying of smaller states) and is not “selfish” or warlike. The PRC government styles itself as the custodian of principles […]
Read more »Laos Takes Another Step Forward on Controversial Mekong Dam
April 7th, 2023
Courtesy of The Diplomat, an article on continued progress towards the new China-backed Pak Lay hydropower project, one of nine dams that the Lao government has planned for the Mekong River: Yesterday, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that Thai and Chinese investors have signed a power purchase agreement that opens the way to the construction of a […]
Read more »Time To Change Myopic View Of The Mekong
April 7th, 2023
Via The Asia Times, commentary on saving the Mekong, which may require looking below the surface of the river: All eyes this week are on the Mekong, the mighty river that is the lifeblood of Southeast Asia. As prime ministers, diplomats, and business and finance leaders gather in Vientiane for the fourth Mekong River Commission […]
Read more »Thailand’s EV Push May Worsen Water Shortages In The East
December 28th, 2022
Via Eco Business, a look at how the arrival of Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD in Rayong is expected to increase the strain on the province’s water supplies: Chinese conglomerate BYD will start production of its first electric vehicles (EV) in Southeast Asia in around 2024. The new facility is expected to produce 150,000 vehicles per year, […]
Read more »Will the Mekong River Really Become the Next South China Sea?
October 5th, 2022
Via The Diplomat, a look – amid competition between China and the U.S. – at how the question of the river’s fate has been imbued with a strategic undercurrent: In recent years, the fate of Southeast Asia’s great river – the Mekong – has attracted growing international scrutiny. The Mekong faces many challenges, from the […]
Read more »For Thai Fishers Facing Dwindling Catches, A Lao Dam Looms Large
June 11th, 2022
Via Mongabay, a report on the impact that a Laos dam will have upon Thai fishing communities: Laos plans to build a $2 billion, 684-megawatt dam on the Mekong River, just 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) from the Thai border. The proposed Sanakham dam is the latest in a cascade of more than a dozen dams […]
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