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Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says

While China claimed to be suffering from equally arid conditions in response to one of the worst droughts that was happening in Southeast Asian countries, new research from American climatologists show that Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low levels of water in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam while securing their own supplies. The report has been creating a lot of noise as the hashtag #StopMekongDam trends on twitter.

Alan Basist, one of the co-writers of the report, remarked that while countries like Cambodia and Thailand were suffering from serious droughts, there was plenty of water near the Tibetan Plateau, suggesting that a huge volume of water was being held back in China. The report also suggested that China’s dams might have held back more than 410 feet of river height based on data collected over the course of 28 years.

While China, with growing geopolitical power, has always claimed that they value win-win relationships with other nations, a backlash is currently growing among Southeast Asian countries. In this particular case concerning water supply, while China did propose development plans that allegedly will benefit Southeast Asian countries, Beijing has control of the upstream Mekong, which provides as much as 70% of water to downstream nations in the dry season, leading to speculations that China is simply another “imperial power” that seeks to control natural resources regardless of needs of the local populace.

The Chinese section of the river is currently punctuated by 11 major dams, providing more power that is needed by the region as well as blocking a large proportion of sediment that should have flowed to the river’s mouth in Vietnam. Conservationists worry that such actions will “kill the river” while China’s participation in regional groups dedicated to the river’s health remain minimal.

Full Articles: The New York Times, Reuters, (Apr 2020)
https://nyti.ms/3dtbAOl
https://reut.rs/2LdOnnf
https://reut.rs/2WfeuAs

#StopMekongDam #ChinaThreat #drought #Thailand #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam
Petition to Stop China to build dam on the upstream Mekong River

(16 Apr) According to new research from American climatologists, China, where the headwaters of the Mekong spring forth from the Tibetan Plateau, was not experiencing the same hardship at all. Instead, Beijing's engineers appeared to have directly caused the record low water levels by limiting the river's flow. This has caused droughts in Southeast Asian Countries and therefore a petition is created for this issue. Currently more than 67000 signatures are received.

#StopMekongDam #Petition #drought #Thailand #Laos #Cambodia #Vietnam #ChinaThreat

Further reading:
Chinese dams along upper Mekong are behind serious droughts in Southeast Asian Countries, study says
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/20588

Source: Petition White House