Via The Diplomat, a report on Laos’ plan to push ahead with four Mekong dams but whose costs and competition could leave the putative “battery of Southeast Asia” running on empty: As a struggling least developed country, Laos stands alone when it comes to ignoring common sense and pushing ahead with infrastructure development that it can […]
Read more »Via The Diplomat, an article on China’s belated notification to other Mekong nations of a river disruption: Earlier this week, I wrote about the sudden drop in water levels along the Mekong River in northern Thailand, and their likely link to the filling of a dam reservoir upstream in China. The fall first became apparent on January 4, […]
Read more »Via VoA, a report on Laos’ decision to press ahead with 4 more Mekong dams amid a drought: Laos is pushing ahead with four dams across the mainstream of the Mekong River, despite an escalating chorus of objections and crippling debt to Chinese state banks which resulted in the loss of control over its electricity grid […]
Read more »Via The Diplomat, a report on China’s agreement to provide downstream nations access to crucial Mekong River data, a welcome development for downstream nations, but one that underlines China’s strategic hold over the crucial waterway: China has agreed to provide the Mekong River Commission (MRC) with year-round hydrological data, following through on a promise made by Chinese Premier […]
Read more »Via The Diplomat, a sobering report on the Mekong River: The miracle of the Mekong, where the pulsating force of the monsoon-driven river every year pushes its tributary to back up and reverse its flow into the great Tonle Sap lake in Cambodia, has again been disrupted and obstructed by dams, drought, and climate change. […]
Read more »Via The Diplomat, an article on how Southeast Asia’s mighty river is quickly becoming a new front in US-China competition: A senior American diplomat has criticized China’s string of hydropower dams on the Mekong River, becoming the latest U.S. official to raise alarm about their possible effects on countries downstream. David R. Stilwell, assistant secretary of […]
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