Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and China's Policy in the Greater Mekong Subregion
Abstract and keywords
Abstract (English):
The aggravation of the environmental situation on the Mekong in recent years, associated with both natural and anthropogenic factors, has contributed to the growth of tensions around the use of Mekong water resources, including accusations against Beijing regarding the operation of hydroelectric power plants in the upper Mekong basin and uncoordinated hydropolicy. The formation of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) can be seen as a preventive measure by Beijing in its good neighbor diplomacy with the Indochina countries to relieve tensions over the use of water resources on the Mekong and criticism against it. China allocates significant financial resources to countries of the subregion, thereby leveling the costs of its hydropolitics, and the countries of the subregion use these advantages of cooperation. At the same time, within the framework of the LMC, Beijing is intensifying comprehensive cooperation and seeking to advance its global initiatives.

Keywords:
Lancang-Mekong, China, Greater Mekong Subregion, cooperation, hydropolitics, ASEAN, Southeast Asia
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References

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