LMC can be used as example for China to handle trans-boundary river disputes
With persistent concerns expressed by India about China’s exploitation of the Yarlung Zangbo River, upstream from the Brahmaputra River in India, officials and scholars should study the possibility of borrowing on the experience of the Lancang-Mekong cooperation mechanism to resolve disputes along trans-boundary rivers. The second LMC foreign ministers’ meeting was held in Cambodia on December 23, during which the six members – China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam – harvested great achievements. China controls the headwaters of several major trans-boundary rivers, including the Lancang-Mekong River where China’s construction of hydropower dams was a source of tension between China and five downstream countries. The dispute necessitated the establishment and push forward of the LMC. Since its creation the mechanism not only contributes to the sustainable use of the Mekong, but it also promotes regional economic integration.
