The politics of hydropower production in the Mekong River

Name: Kullawat Kaewkao

keyword: Lancang-Mekong Cooperation

; Mekong River

; Regime

; China's grand strategy

; Hydropolitics

Abstract: After Xi Jinping came to power in late 2012, China changed its strategic position from ‘keeping a low profile’ to becoming a ‘global leader’ in international affairs. Hegemonic ambition drives China’s revisionist policies and continues to shape the peaceful international environment in order to support economic expansion in pursuit of the “Chinese Dream”. China is also playing a bigger and constructive role seizing the opportunity to initiate a new mechanism with its Chinese style and characteristic to rule the world. Among the tensions and criticisms is over water grabbing in China’s Lancang cascades. The Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) is a peaceful strategic mechanism to deepen and sustain friendly favorable sub-regional environmental relations between China and Mekong states ; ensuring long-term economic growth and state rejuvenation. By using this constructive role, rather than pushing for the enforcement of rules, China has reshaped the Mekong hydro-political landscape. The embedding of the China-led regime, namely the LMC Regime, has created a multi-layered regime for riparian states to comply with. The LMC regime is an interest-based regime. It is a public good that provides opportunities for all Mekong states to meet their mutual interest of development in general and on water utilization in particular. China aims to overshadow its governance style in the most vulnerable political issue in the Mekong sub-region. It is challenging other existing regimes, namely ; the MRC Regime and UNWC Regime, which are rule-based regimes based on the principles and rules written in the Mekong Agreement and the UN Watercourse Convention. It contains substantive rules and regulations on water utilization. Its effectiveness in international river governance and environment protection is debatable. China’s constructive role in the LMC Regime has molded the shape of the regional environment in the Mekong hydropolitical landscape, which is more peaceful and trustworthy and has created mutual understanding between China and Mekong states based of good neighborliness. The LMC Regime offers an alternative platform, with China as the leader of the group, for negotiating and discussing common interests and water resources management planning between Mekong states and China. The LMC Regime has remolded the Mekong states’ perception of China from hostile to cordial and has unleashed China’s soft power, which has deepened economic relations and boosted trade and investment with Mekong states, especially CLMV countries. Simultaneously, China is able to adjust rules and norms in water utilization, allowing China to get involved in hydropower development schemes in the Mekong River region in the future more easily. The LMC is an engine of China’s Grand Strategy and it shapes the environment to be the peaceful and friendly between China and the Mekong states

Thammasat University. Thammasat University Library

Address: BANGKOK

Email: preserv@tu.ac.th

Name: Pinitbhand Paribatra

Role: advisor

Created: 2017

Modified: 2022-02-21

Issued: 2022-02-21

วิทยานิพนธ์/Thesis

application/pdf

DOI: 10.14457/TU.the.2017.1530

eng

DegreeName: Master of Political Science

Level: Master's Degree

Descipline: International Relations

Grantor: Thammasat University

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