News

China is blighting millions of Southeast Asians by choking the Mekong River. It can be sued before the United Nations. Reparations and sanctions can be extracted under international pacts. Beijing communist rulers’ global excesses amidst COVID-19 pandemic will isolate China. Eleven dams on China’s side of the Mekong have dried up farms downstream in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. ...

The prior consultation process of the 1460MW Luang Prabang hydropower on the Mekong mainstream will now be concluded on 30 June 2020, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) has announced, with prior consultation to start on the 684MW Sanakham project once this is complete. During the Special ...

A 70-year-old Australian democracy activist has “disappeared” inside Vietnam’s prison system: no one from his family or the Australian government has been allowed to see or speak with him for nearly four months.  Human rights advocates, lawyers and Chau Van Kham’s family said the charges against him are baseless ...

The Cambodian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it had received a diplomatic note from Thailand asking the former to verify news reports documenting the disappearance of a Thai pro-democracy activist. It was unclear if this was a request for a criminal investigation. VOA Khmer reported on Friday ...

Construction of the Laos-China railway was 89.43 per cent complete as of the end of May with Lao authorities calling for the project developer to progress work according to plan. General Manager Xiao Qianwen of the Laos-China Railway Co, Ltd. (LCRC), a joint venture based in ...

The Government of Norway through Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) confirmed its commitment to continue supporting Cambodia’s mine clearance efforts by providing $5 million for the next four years. The assistance was made known by Mr. Zlatko Vezillic, Programme Manager for NPA’s Cambodia’s Mine Action and Disarmament ...

Some 100 supporters of a Thai political activist who was snatched from the streets of Cambodia’s capital in broad daylight protested Monday in front of the country’s embassy in Bangkok, demanding that Phnom Penh investigate his case, while Cambodian officials continued to disavow knowledge of ...

Highlights: Vietnam’s National Assembly on June 8 ratified the EVFTA and the EVIPA agreements between Vietnam and the EU. Analysts hope the trade deal will give a much-needed boost to Vietnam’s economy as it looks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement is expected to take effect sometime ...

Thai activists and organizations have raised alarm bells following last month’s announcement that the Mekong River Commission will begin its prior consultation process on the Sanakham hydropower plant, a new Mekong River dam project in northern Laos.   The plant would be the sixth dam in Laos, costing more than $2 billion, and would follow Laos’ Xayaburi Dam, farther upstream, which began operation in November.   The MRC prior consultation ...

Many centuries ago, the great Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu observed: “The nature of water is such that it avoids heights and hastens to the lowlands. When a dam is broken, the water cascades with irresistible force. Now the shape of an army resembles water. Take ...