Flooding In Cambodia Claims Over 30 Lives (Photo : Getty Images)
Even if China is in a territorial dispute with some of its Asian neighbors over some islands in the South China Sea, China would still provide Vietnam and other nations along the drought-stricken Mekong River with emergency water supply.
Lu Kang, spokesman of China’s Foreign Ministry, said on Tuesday at a news conference in Beijing that the emergency water supply will come from a hydropower station in Yunnan Province. It would make the water supply available through April 10 to give enough time for the water to flow to the river’s lower reaches, reported China Daily.
One of the lower reaches of the Mekong River – which spans Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – is Vietnam whose Foreign Ministry requested China for higher water discharges coming from the Jinghong Hydropower Station. In giving in to the request, Lu said that China and the five nations on the Indochinese Peninsula are “friendly neighbors” that should help each other in coping with difficulties.
Although the drought – mainly caused by the El Nino phenomenon – is also affecting China, the Asian giant opted to overcome its own difficulties and expressed willingness to strengthen communication and practical cooperation with nations along its borders. The six countries have created a Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism during the meeting in Yunnan in November of their foreign ministers.
But The Diplomat reported in spite of the cooperation mechanism, the question of dam construction and water usage remain unresolved as the drought threatens rice crops among the six nations. Since the Mekong, called Lancang in China, originates from the Tibetan plateau and flows through three Chinese provinces before it reaches Southeast Asia, dams built by China has affected water flow.
In 1994, China built the Manwan Dam in Yunnan, the Dachaoshan Dam in 2003 and is completing since 2009 four more dams. The country plans to construct seven more. Laos also plan to build two dams.
