Rebutting US Claims, China Says Dams Unrelated to Thai Drought
The Chinese Embassy in Bangkok on Monday dismissed a US-funded study accusing China’s dams of hoarding water in the vital Mekong River.
In a statement released to Khaosod English, the embassy said the extreme drought felt by Mekong’s downstream countries in 2019 were caused by exceptionally low rainfalls and arid temperature, and not the dams China built in its section of the Mekong, known locally as the Lancang River.
“The research by Eyes on Earth Inc. did not consider precipitation levels and complication of water flows. It does not reflect hydrological realities,” it said. “Their results are mostly calculated trends, not the actual water flows on the long term.”
The statement cited a study by the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission, which blames abnormalities in the Mekong on the El Nino phenomenon.
Khaosod English
