Geopolitics plays out on the Mekong with doubts on dams and promises of cooperation
Recent weeks have seen new developments in the ongoing tension over the Mekong river and its waters, as the river basin faces ecological crises and its waters play an ever-larger role in geopolitics.
Thailand has announced that it is reconsidering its decision to purchase power from the planned Sanakham Dam, a large hydropower project on the mainstream of the Mekong in Laos.
China has announced new plans to share some year-round data gathered from the upper portion of the Mekong, also called the Lancang. The move is a goodwill gesture—or a public relations move—following years of criticism over the country’s unilateral decision making on water issues as well as incriminating research exposing its controversial water management policies.
The Mekong River Commission (MRC), a key multilateral partnership between Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, also met and published new plans for managing the Mekong’s waters, though it remains to be seen whether the new agendas mean much for the river basin’s struggling communities and ecosystems.
Editorial
