Washington muddies Lancang-Mekong ties

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement on Sept 14 claiming that China, by blocking the upstream, has caused droughts in the lower reaches of the LancangMekong River, and that the nation’s large-scale dams have caused environmental disasters in the region, so the Mekong countries need a “good partner” like the United States.

The Lancang-Mekong River flows through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, with the section in China called the Langcang and the rest called the Mekong.

The management of trans-boundary rivers has always been a complex and sensitive issue, and some scholars say this could lead to “water wars”, and that “water conflicts” may arise among the riparian countries. The Lancang-Mekong River flows through six countries with a total length of 4,909 kilometers, so its development and management remain particularly complex.

However, thanks to the joint efforts of the six countries, and despite the rare differences, no major water-related conflicts have emerged in the region.

In recent years, with the active push of the Lancang-Mekong cooperation mechanism, the development and management of the river’s water resources is becoming a reality. Under these circumstances, as a major country outside the region, the motive behind the US’ exceptional concern over the Lancang-Mekong River smells of ulterior motives.

China’s positive role in the development of water resources in the Lancang-Mekong River has been acknowledged by the other five countries. As an important mechanism for managing resources in the lower reaches, the Mekong River Commission has tried to clear the misunderstandings about China’s role by issuing data and reports, and giving media interviews, and emphasizing that the droughts in the region are caused by extreme weather conditions rather than China’s construction of dams on the Lancang.

The commission appreciates

China’s long-term implementation of emergency water replenishment in the lower reaches of the Mekong River in “dry years” such as 2016 and hydrology information sharing, saying China is an active participant in and contributor to international cooperation on Lancang-Mekong water resources.

Of late, the US has been trying to change the status quo of the Lancang-Mekong River management through behind-the-scenes manipulations, and turn it into “another South China Sea” between China and Southeast Asian countries.

In April this year, the so-called investigation report sponsored by the US was an attempt to interfere in the mutual trust-based cooperation between China and the Mekong countries, by claiming that the rainfall in the Lancang River catchment area in 2019 was no less than in previous years, but the volume of water flow from China to the Mekong countries in the lower reaches was relatively low. The report claims to have got the “data” by calculating the “surface humidity” in China’s Yunnan province.

Yet, surprisingly, the report acknowledges there is no evidence to show China pumped or “redeployed” water in the Lancang River.

The US was the first country to vigorously promote the development of hydropower in the Mekong region, but in recent years it has changed its policy and begun casting doubts over hydropower development in the region.

With the launch of hydropower development projects in the five Mekong countries and the huge market demand for power grids and other infrastructure construction, the US and Japan formed the “Mekong Power Partnership” in August 2019 to promote private investment and cross-border energy trade in the region’s power sector.

Given the US’ ongoing efforts to decouple from China and the strained Sino-US relations, Washington’s move appears highly suspicious. Otherwise, why would it fund regional agencies to compile and publish the so-called LancangMekong River water resources report and hype up the water issue?

Southeast Asian countries, especially the Mekong countries, have been at the center of great power games and therefore should realize that the US report attempts to create misperceptions about China. Piecing together data is easy for US agencies and politicians, but it is impossible for them to turn the LancangMekong River into a “river of troubles” and force the countries that share their drinking water from the same river to confront each other.

But since the US is likely to play new tricks in the Lancang-Mekong region, the governments and people of China and the five Mekong countries must be alert so as not to fall into Washington’s trap. The six Lancang-Mekong countries share a common destiny, and their cooperation will advance the development of the river and their relations.