China Mekong Dam Project Generates Growing Controversy
China has the greatest number of dams in the world, though its plan to construct a dam on the cross-border Mekong River is increasingly creating controversy. In 2011, the government in Burma, also known as Myanmar, halted the two countries’ joint Myitsone dam project after protests at home. U.S.-based experts think more transparency from China can help ease the disputes.
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Richard Cronin, the director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Stimson Center, specializes in researching hydroelectric dams on the transnational Mekong River.
“Chinese companies are involved in four, possibly five, of the 11 mainstream dams, as well as lots of dams on tributaries,” said Cronin. “So, China’s role is a big factor in all infrastructure development, particularly in Laos and Cambodia. But it is also a particularly big factor in the development of these dams.”
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At a panel discussion, Sun Yun, a fellow at the Stimson Center, said the Myitsone dam project is a classic example of Chinese policy-making by participants who have different interests.
“China’s central government, which is Beijing, local government, which is Yunnan province, and the business interests, China Power and Investment, prioritize different things,” she said.
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