Advertisement
US-China relations
This Week in AsiaPolitics

US-backed Mekong monitoring project set to test China’s patience

  • The Mekong Dam Monitor open-source online platform aims to provide regular updates on water levels at dozens of dams along the river’s length
  • Part-funded by Washington, it also involves Eyes On Earth – the US company whose April study found Chinese dams contributed to drought in the region

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
35
A hydropower dam under construction on the Mekong River in Laos pictured in January 201. Photo: Shutterstock
Maria Siow
A Washington-sponsored programme aimed at monitoring the state of the Mekong River risks further testing already fraught US-China relations when it officially launches on Tuesday.
Advertisement

The Mekong Dam Monitor is an open-source online platform that promises to provide weekly updates using remote sensing and satellite imagery on the levels of reservoirs at 13 dams along the Mekong’s main stretch, as well as at 15 tributary dams with power generation capacities greater than 200MW.

It further seeks to circulate weekly visualisations and analysis of “China’s 11 dam cascade on the upper Mekong”, as well as maps and data on temperature, snow cover, precipitation and other indicators along the river’s full course, according to its website.
The collaborative project from the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank’s Southeast Asia programme and Eyes On Earth Inc. – a US research and consulting company specialising in water – comes after years of frustrations from countries along the river at China’s lack of transparency with sharing such information.

02:31

Have China’s dams been drying up the Mekong River or is low rainfall to blame?

Have China’s dams been drying up the Mekong River or is low rainfall to blame?

It is set to launch on Tuesday at a virtual event – where US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell will deliver a keynote address – just weeks after the launch of a similar Chinese initiative aimed at “tackling climate change and natural disasters” to show “China’s goodwill and sincerity as a responsible upstream neighbour”, according to state media reports.

Advertisement
Advertisement