News
China Building Massive Myanmar Border Wall: Reports
Reports have emerged that the Chinese government is constructive a 2,000-kilometer reinforced fence along its coiling border with Myanmar, following a spike in COVID-19 cases in the latter country. According to a report in Radio Free Asia (RFA), the giant undertaking has been codenamed the “Southern Great Wall” ...
Sebastian Strangio
How have Thailand and Cambodia kept Covid cases so low?
When the coronavirus first began to spread rapidly in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Thailand appeared especially vulnerable. It was the first country outside China to report a case of Covid-19, when, on 13 January, a 61-year-old woman from Wuhan was confirmed to have tested positive in ...
Rebecca Ratcliffe
Vietnam prioritises cybersecurity
With Vietnam being one of the largest targets for cyberattacks in the world, enhancing information safety is a crucial issue the country needs to address as it aims for complete digital transformation. Along with digital transformation, it is necessary to build a capable workforce specialised in ...
Samaya Dharmaraj
U.S. Steps Up Scrutiny of Chinese Built Dams on Mekong Basin
The U.S. is increasing scrutiny of Chinese dams along the Mekong River, its latest move aimed at helping Southeast Asian nations push back against Beijing. The ‘Mekong Dam Monitor,’ funded by the U.S. government and run by for-profit consultancy Eyes on Earth and the Washington-based Stimson Center gathers ...
Philip Heijmans
Endangered crane absent from Vietnam's Ramsar site
Losing their natural habitat and food source, red-crowned cranes no longer call a national park in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta home. For three decades, Tram Chim National Park in the reed fields of Dong Thap Muoi in Dong Thap Province has been famous as a natural habitat ...
Hoang Nam
Natural disasters cause people to flee Mekong Delta
The fear of natural disasters has caused more than 1.3 million people living in the Mekong Delta to migrate to HCMC and elsewhere. The figure was published on Monday in the first annual Mekong Delta Economic Report coordinated by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry ...
Cuu Long
Open letter to Aung San Suu Kyi to address water contamination issue
Your Excellency; First of all, I am Saw Paul Sein Twa, the Chairperson of the Salween Peace Park in Mutraw District, Karen State, Kawthooeli, Eastern Myanmar, which recently was awarded the 2020 Equator Prize. I work closely with local Indigenous Karen people and walk with them as ...
Saw Paul Sein Twa
Myanmar COVID-19 Vaccination Expected from April
Myanmar plans to start providing COVID-19 vaccines to about 20 percent of its 54.4 million population in April under the global Covax affordable medicines program, according to health minister Dr. Myint Htwe. Myanmar on Dec. 7 submitted its request to the Covax program at the World ...
NYEIN NYEIN
Chinese dams under U.S. scrutiny in Mekong rivalry
A U.S.-funded project using satellites to track and publish water levels at Chinese dams on the Mekong river was announced on Monday, adding to the superpowers’ rivalry in Southeast Asia. The 4,350-km (2,700-mile) waterway – known as the Lancang in China and flowing south through Myanmar, ...
Kay Johnson, Matthew Tostevin
Angkor sells out: Cambodia turns a blind eye to vanishing forests
A series of reports this year show that protected forest areas across Cambodia are under increasing threat from land grabs and deforestation. As Cambodians struggle with the economic impacts of COVID-19, journalists and advocates report that illegal logging and land development continues, from central Cambodia’s Prey Lang Forest to the Cardamom Mountains ...
Editorial