South China Morning Post
Getting high in the drug-riddled mountains of Laos
UN drug agency is leading a coffee cultivation programme across 10 former opium growing villages in Houaphan province, which borders Vietnam. Keep reading ...
Laos dam collapse: Mekong River projects move forward despite promise to halt and review
Decision to continue work on two huge dams calls into question how serious the government is about reviewing numerous multibillion-dollar hydropower projects after last month’s disaster. Keep reading ...
Laos dam collapse: survivors tell devastating tales as blame shifts to government’s aggressive growth model
As surging waters swallowed the ground floor of Vee Keoheuy’s home, she hoisted herself out the window onto a rickety boat with her husband, children and grandchildren – in the dark. Officials had told her neighbours in Ban Mai that heavy rains required the opening ...
How Chinese money is changing Sihanoukville – ‘No Cambodia left’
Inside a lavishly decorated casino, where chandeliers hang from the ceiling, cigarette smoke lingers in the air and platters of mango are served to gamblers, a game of baccarat is getting heated. Cards are slammed down, US$100 bills are brandished and Chinese tourists shout excitedly. Keep ...
Ten jailed in Vietnam after violent anti-China protests
Ten people were jailed in Vietnam Monday for joining explosive protests that swept across the communist country last month after a draft investment law triggered widespread anger. The rare rallies in the one-party state – where even peaceful demonstrations are outlawed – drew thousands to the ...
Are Chinese-funded dams on the Mekong River washing away Cambodian livelihoods?
Beijing’s spending on hydropower projects is welcomed by many poorer Southeast Asian countries, but it comes with a huge environmental and social cost, experts say. Keep reading ...
Laura Zhou
Resource-hungry China is in overdrive as it wages water wars by stealth
China’s hyperactive dam building is a reminder that, while the international attention remains on its recidivist activities in the South China Sea’s disputed waters, it is also focusing quietly on other waters – of rivers that originate in Chinese-controlled territory like Tibet and flow to ...
Brahma Chellaney
‘Proactive diplomacy’ in Mekong River dispute only way to resolve brewing conflict
The ferocity of rows over vital sea lines carrying up to a third of global trade valued at US$5 trillion annually has embittered relations between China and some Southeast Asian claimant states. Meanwhile, external powers such as the United States have jumped into the fray, ...
Richard Heydarian
Five things to know about the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation summit
When China and the leaders of nations along the Mekong River meet on Wednesday at the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation summit in Cambodia, a top item is to be mapping out a five-year development plan that would include building hydropower dams and other projects for the region ...
Laura Zhou
Is Mekong River set to become the new South China Sea for regional disputes?
The Beijing-led Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism was set up to help ease tensions over development projects, but environmental groups are yet to be convinced.Foreign ministers from the six countries through which the Mekong flows met in southwestern China last month to approve a draft of a ...
Catherine Wong
