Nam Ou River Basin Power Company hands over drinking water purification project to Hatkeep villagers

Mr Zhigong expressed the hope that the Lao government would continue to strengthen its key support and assistance to the Nam Ou River Project, so that the rich hydropower resources of the Nam Ou River could be transformed into rich social and economic benefits, and contribute to the rapid economic development of northern Laos and the friendly cooperation between China and Laos.

Laos establishes task force to police social media platforms

Recent years have also seen an upswing of surveillance and persecution of Lao citizens for critical comments posted online. A representative case was the September 2019 arrest of the social media influencer Houayheuang Xayabouly, then 30, also known as Muay, who was detained after she posted a video on Facebook criticizing the government’s delayed response to floods caused by a dam collapse. She was subsequently sentenced to five years imprisonment.