News
Science Shows Chinese Dams Are Devastating the Mekong
Eleven massive dams straddle the mighty Mekong River before it leaves China and flows into Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and on into Vietnam. Yet I have long been skeptical that China could use those 11 upstream dams, massive as they are, to turn off the ...
BRIAN EYLER
China dam claims should be studied, says rivers official
A new report that found China’s upstream dam management is responsible for dangerously low water levels and drought conditions along the Mekong River needs to be “studied”, according to a Cambodian National Mekong Commission official. The report, titled “Monitoring the Quantity of Water Flowing Through the ...
Khy Sovuthy
New study shows China caused drought in the Mekong, local experts must have control of their resources
“No fish. Nothing. We can only catch enough to eat ourselves. We fish through the night and all we catch is one or two skewers for cooking,” a Lao fisherman told Radio Free Asia earlier this year. He spoke to journalists on his boat on the Mekong River ...
Skylar Lindsay
OPINION: China's drain on Mekong
More water discharged from Chinese dams to the lower Mekong River in the dry season and less water in the rainy season. That means a reduction of drought and flooding in the lower Mekong countries. That was the ideal “cooperation” Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam ...
OPINION: The Mekong is the test of China’s leadership
The Mekong River originates in China and winds its way south, flowing through or past five other countries — Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam — before it empties into the South China Sea. The Mekong is the beating heart of the region, and while ...
BRAD GLOSSERMAN
Mekong river groups urge China to show transparency after dam report
Groups working to protect the Mekong River have called for greater transparency and cooperation from China after a report that Chinese dams held back water during a damaging drought in downstream countries last year. China has disputed the findings of the U.S. government-funded study and said ...
Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um in Bangkok, and Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh, and James Pearson in Hanoi; Editing by Matthew Tostevin/Mark Heinrich
How China Turned Off the Tap on the Mekong River
For three decades, China has been building dams on the upper Basin of the Mekong River, worrying countries downstream that China could one day turn off the tap. New data shows that for six months in 2019, while China received above average precipitation, its dams ...
Brian Eyler
Chinese dams held back Mekong waters during drought, study finds
China’s Mekong River dams held back large amounts of water during a damaging drought in downstream countries last year despite China having higher-than-average water levels upstream, a U.S. research company said in a study. China’s government disputed the findings, saying there was low rainfall during last ...
Kay Johnson
China Limited the Mekong’s Flow. Other Countries Suffered a Drought
As China was stricken by the coronavirus in late February, its foreign minister addressed a concerned crowd in Laos, where farmers and fishers across the Mekong River region were contending with the worst drought in living memory. His message: We feel your pain. The foreign minister, Wang Yi, ...
Hannah Beech
Ridding the Mekong of Plastic Poison
Plastic waste in the world’s oceans is raising international alarm. Recent research shows that 90 % of the plastic that ends up in the oceans is delivered by just 10 river systems. The Mekong River that winds through Southeast Asia is one of them. The ...