In engaging with Mekong countries, China should focus on efforts in different directions. First, China should properly understand and approach concerns of Mekong countries and make efforts to facilitate their rise as a whole.
Category: Mekong
2018 Is On Pace To Be Another Bloody Year For Environmental Defenders Around The World
Countries like Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand are also becoming more dangerous for environmental activists.
Activist asks UN to review EU-Vietnam timber deal
“We have collected enough evidence from our government showing that Vietnamese companies are embroiled in large-scale illegal logging and timber smuggling from Cambodia.”
Southeast Asia swapping opium with coffee
Laos and Myanmar are following Thailand, which began the change in the 1980s. Long-term government investment in schools, hospitals and roads has weaned farmers off the crop, leading to its eradication.
Green transformation crucial for adaptation to climate change
Cambodia, Laos and Viet must work closer together to make the shift to using more renewable energy.
New understanding of Mekong River incision
An international team of earth scientists has linked the establishment of the Mekong River to a period of major intensification of the Asian monsoon during the middle Miocene, about 17 million years ago.
Ensuring stability of Mekong nations
When China backs up the development of other countries forcibly in disregard of their financial strength, environment and human rights issues, it could impede their healthy development.
Water conflicts worldwide threaten peace
China is not alone in trying to control Mekong. Laos also plans a dam to generate power for sale to Thailand. Vietnam, where the Mekong flows into the South China Sea, is against the project, but Laos is not budging.
Japan strengthens its Mekong ties
Japan has one more disadvantage in dealing with Mekong River countries: None of them are strong democracies and their governments instinctively lean toward Beijing on questions of governance and human rights.
To Protect the Environment, Buddhist Monks Are Ordaining Trees
“They’re very wary of the monks getting together,” Chantal Elkin, a program manager for The Alliance of Religions and Conservation, told Sojourners. “Forest activism is [seen as] a threat to the government.”