The Mekong River has become a new front in U.S.-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river's waters.
BANGKOK - The Mekong River has become a new front in U.S.-China rivalry, environmentalists and officials say, with Beijing overtaking Washington in both spending and influence over downstream countries at the mercy of its control of the river’s waters.
China’s dams have given it extensive control of the waters that flow down to Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, which have long depended on the river for agriculture, fisheries, and increasingly for hydropower in Laos. Last year saw record drought, with Lower Mekong river levels the lowest in decades. Fewer and smaller fish catches have been reported for years.
China’s foreign ministry told Reuters any U.S. suggestion that Beijing was trying to take over the Mekong conversation was groundless. China reacted with outrage, with its embassy in Thailand denouncing the study as “politically motivated, aimed at targeting China with ill intent” - a charge its author and U.S. officials denied.
“We are not meaning to compare with any other report. We aim to provide some basic facts to facilitate mutual understanding, trust and therefore cooperation in the basin,” lead researcher Tian Fuqiang told Reuters in an email. Reluctant to take sides, none of the MRC countries has commented publicly in favour of either the Chinese or American study.The United States has spent $120 million on its Lower Mekong Initiative since it was founded 11 years ago.
The LMC drew criticism from the U.S. ambassador to Thailand, Michael DeSombre, who called it a “parallel organisation” to the MRC.
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