Thailand, China & Laos Haven't Just Screwed The Mekong, They've Made It A Flashpoint For Conflict
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The Mekong River begins in China's Tibetan Plateau and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia before exiting in Vietnam's delta region. Hundreds of hydropower dams have been built up and down the river since 2010, and most of them are in China and Laos. Laos, the poorest member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc and a landlocked state without much of a manufacturing sector, has recorded a 7% GDP growth on average for much of the past decade, thanks in large part to exporting hydropower-generated electricity.
However, dam-building has resulted in environmental destruction and accusations of forced evictions and land-clearing across the region. When part of a dam collapsed in southern Laos in 2018, at least 40 people were killed and hundreds of households in the region were affected by flooding. Thailand and Vietnam now also say they are experiencing unusual flooding and droughts because of damming on upstream parts of the Mekong.
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Critics say that China could threaten to intentionally hold back much of the river's water upstream, producing extreme droughts in Thailand and Vietnam, as a way of pressuring Bangkok and Hanoi to accept Beijing's geopolitical aims. In late July, Chinese hackers allegedly stole data on the Mekong River from Cambodia's Foreign Ministry servers. On the other hand, increased funding from US and China-led initiatives to governments and institutions in the region has "contributed to greater public attention and debate on issues critical to the future of the Mekong River and its people," Deetes told DW.
Susanne Schmeier, an associate professor in Water Law and Diplomacy at IHE Delft, identifies two main tensions between China and the Southeast Asian states, and among the Southeast Asian states themselves. "The data shows that Thailand is the biggest investor in hydropower dams in Laos, building four times as many dams as China," said Eyler.
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https://www.dw.com/en/how-mekong-river-is-turning-into-a-new-flashpoint-in-indo-pacific/a-58842727