Dams or Drought
An expert discusses China’s influence on its southern neighbors along the Mekong River.
Chinese dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong River are sometimes thought to be responsible for lowered water levels in countries downstream. Here, Australian historian, author, and Southeast Asian affairs consultant Milton Osborne addresses this question in an interview.
April 2010 marked a new low for water levels in the Mekong River. Communities in Chiang Saen and Chiang Khong in northern Thailand who spoke with RFA attributed receding waters to the filling of the Xiaowan dam in Yunnan province, China. We asked Milton Osborne whether there could be a direct correlation between the new Chinese mega-dam and the Mekong downstream in northern Thailand.
“I’ve not been to see the dam. And indeed that’s one of the problems about any discussion at the moment—the fact that neither the Southeast Asian governments—the Mekong Basin governments—nor nongovernmental organization representatives have been able to go and see the dams in person. So my view has to depend on what various people tell me. http://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/osborne-08232010150911.html
