Will the Belt and Road Initiative bring environmental devastation or a new era of Chinese global resource stewardship? Asks Lili Pike
Category: Laos
Laos: On the Borders of the Empire
Aljazerra investigates in a 25 minute report China’s rising influence in Laos and the potentially disastrous consequences for the local population.
Companies Join Hands to Build Xe Bangfai Dam
Mitr Phol Corp., Ltd of Thailand and the Laosamay Road Bridge Construction Company have signed a joint investment agreement for the development and construction of a hydropower dam on the Xe Bangfai river in Khammuan and an irrigation system for both Khammuan and Savannakhet provinces.
The battle for the ‘mother of rivers’
Scientists are praising the discovery of new species and rare dolphins in the Mekong region, but overfishing and dams loom to disrupt habitats says a special report by the Ecologist.
Mekong Delta Blues
BBC Radio 4’s Costing the Earth program explores how the government of Laos is determined to develop the nation by building hydroelectric dams for electricity, yet many people in the downstream countries of Cambodia and Vietnam are worried that the flow of the life-giving waters of the Mekong will be much reduced and fish life devastated. Peter Hadfield reports from the banks of the Mekong
What’s at stake in China’s plan to blow up islands in the Mekong
The company charged with developing a trade route along the Mekong River (the state-owned Chinese Communications Construction Company) is set to dynamite river islands
Vietnam urges Laos to rethink Mekong River dams
The Mekong Delta will disappear in the next several decades once Pak Beng Dam and another 10 planned hydropower dams are built on the Mekong River in Laos and Cambodia, delegates warned at a conference on Saturday in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.
Research: Economic Evaluation of Hydropower Projects in the Lower Mekong Basin
This paper is an update of a previous study entitled ‘Working Paper on Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts of Hydropower Development in the Lower Mekong Basin’ published in 2015. This was a revised, condensed version of the report ‘Planning Approaches for Water Resources Development in the Lower Mekong Basin’
The Real Trouble With China’s Belt and Road
Though Beijing has made inroads in addressing some concerns, the true structural challenges for the initiative remain.
Cash and Chemicals: For Laos, Chinese Banana Boom a Blessing and Curse
The Chinese offered villagers up to $720 per hectare to rent their land, much of it fallow for years, said Kongkaew, 59, the village chief. They wanted to grow bananas on it.