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Mekong: A Vital Regional River Can Be a Route for U.S. Diplomacy
September 10th, 2023
Courtesy of Foreign Policy, a commentary that U.S. President Biden’s Vietnam deals should center on the Mekong: On Sept. 10, Joe Biden pays his first visit to Vietnam as U.S. president, where he is expected to ink a deal to elevate the U.S.-Vietnam relationship from “comprehensive” to “comprehensive strategic”—the highest level of Vietnam’s diplomatic hierarchy. […]
Read more »Vietnam’s Mekong Delta Is Sinking, But Innovations Offer Hope
July 28th, 2023
Courtesy of Nikkei Asia, a look at the threatened Mekong Delta: A ribbon of water runs alongside Ho Van Hong’s star-apple and durian trees, just wide enough for the farmer’s blue canoe to glide by. He scoops from the channel to water his orchard in the heart of the Mekong Delta. The grove has been […]
Read more »Thirsty Dragon: Chinese Dams Make ‘Upstream Superpower’ Presence Felt In Asia
July 24th, 2023
Via Nikkei Asia, the first article in a three-part series exploring the effects that the actions of upstream nations – exacerbated by climate change – have on countries downstream: Water is released from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir Dam on the Yellow River in a sand-discharging operation. July 2022, Luoyang, China. (Footage via Getty Images) Drought in […]
Read more »Latest Mekong Dam Will Produce Little Power, But Much Environmental Harm
July 24th, 2023
Courtesy of Circle of Blue, perspective on a dam project impacting an important Mekong tributary: Southeast Asia’s Mekong River, known as the most productive river system on the planet, sustains the livelihoods of tens of millions of people through fishing and farming. For years, the world’s largest inland fishery has also been under assault from […]
Read more »Vietnam’s Drought Dries Up Income
June 20th, 2023
Via Terra Daily, an article on Vietnam’s drought: On the shores of a reservoir that feeds one of Vietnam’s biggest hydropower plants, Dang Thi Phuong points at the cracked ground where the fish that help her earn a living normally swim.After a series of heatwaves, including a record high in May, and an unprecedented drought, […]
Read more »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 […]
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