Advertisement
US says China has to be made ‘accountable’ for Mekong dams at meeting with region’s foreign ministers
- US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun used the meeting to blame China for the current drought occurring in the downstream Mekong area
- However, a Thai official said the meeting was actually aimed at discussing ways ‘to deepen cooperation under [the] Lower Mekong Initiative’
2-MIN READ2-MIN
US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun and foreign ministers from five Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River held their first meeting on Friday, discussing ways to deepen their partnership amid their latest rivalry with China over the 4,350-kilometre river.
During the group’s inaugural meeting, Biegun claimed that the current drought suffered in the Mekong downstream area during the past two years has been caused by dams built by China in the upstream area.
“We have to hold China accountable as the decision made in Beijing affects you all in the region,” Biegun told the ministers of the downstream Mekong countries – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Advertisement
China’s 11 dams in the river have “adversely affected food security, environment and livelihood of people in the Mekong,” the US official said.
Advertisement
“Unlike China that is dictating its will on others, the US effort is to empower local people, and help countries in the region to be sovereign, independent states.”
Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x