Ahead of Blinken's Southeast Asia visit, US steps up rivalry with China in Mekong region with funding, Mississippi tie-up
In a further bid to rival China's influence and presence in Southeast Asia's Mekong Basin, the United States has awarded a grant to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to improve the collection and sharing of data and improve water management.
The sum of US$773,570 will also be used for continued exchanges with the Mississippi River Commission, according to an announcement made last Friday during a virtual meeting between the MRC and the Mississippi River Commission where some 50 senior representatives from both sides attended.
The support, provided under the framework of the Mekong-US Partnership, will run for a period of three years from 2021 to 2024, the MRC said on Thursday.
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Christine Dawson, director of the Office of Conservation and Water at the US Department of State, said the funding would support the MRC in promoting and improving transparent water data sharing.
"Although small, this grant will provide strategic support to the important work of the MRC in the Mekong and wider region," Dawson said, referring to the programme which will address data gaps and improve data sharing for impact monitoring and forecasting.
The MRC and the Mississippi River Commission - with technical support from the US Army Corps of Engineers - have conducted several exchange visits and shared knowledge and experience of river basin planning and disaster management.
Dr An Pich Hatda, CEO of the MRC Secretariat, said that given increasing risks from climate change, extreme floods, droughts, and development activities, both sides were committed to working together to ensure sustainable development of the 4,909km waterway.
Backed by the US, MRC members include Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, while another group spearheaded by China - known as the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) - includes the four Southeast Asian countries plus China and Myanmar.
In recent months, Washington has stepped up efforts in countering Chinese influence in the region, including by launching the Mekong-US Partnership. Major initiatives under the partnership include the donation of 8.5 million vaccine doses and close to US$60 million in pandemic assistance to Mekong region countries.
Last December, the US launched the Mekong Dam Monitor, an open-source online platform for near-real time monitoring of dams and environmental impacts in the Mekong Basin.
At August's East Asia Summit foreign ministers' meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for "a free and open Mekong". During his visit to Southeast Asia next week Blinken is expected to discuss "unilateral Chinese actions in the Mekong River".
In recent months, critics have accused China of blocking the flow of the Mekong at its upstream hydropower dams, causing droughts in countries downstream. Beijing has denied the charges.
John Lichtefeld, a non-resident fellow with the Stimson Centre's Southeast Asia programme, said the Mississippi and Mekong deltas were remarkably similar so lessons learned in one basin were often applicable to the other.
"Scientists working in these areas have recognised this for quite a while, and in the mid-2000s began collaborating through the Delta Research and Global Observation Network (Dragon), which was one of the forerunner programmes for what would become the US Lower Mekong Initiative," Lichtefeld said, referring to the initiative which later expanded to become the Mekong-US Partnership.
Lichtefeld said the Mekong had become a priority as climate change combined with poorly planned human interventions such as the building of dams along the river had resulted in severe disruptions to water flow and fish catches.
"With the Joe Biden administration looking to strengthen ties with partners in the region, support will likely continue to grow - especially for initiatives aimed at supporting transparency, regional cooperation, and human security and development," Lichtefeld added.
Sam Baron, a Southeast Asia analyst at The Asia Group, said both the Mississippi and Mekong river commissions had dealt with significant flooding problems and were therefore well-positioned to learn from each other, especially in river-basin planning and disaster management.
"Dispatching those knowledgeable from the Mississippi River Commission to share information and build capacity with regional partners at the MRC to better monitor water strengthens the technical capacity of the MRC and grants the US the opportunity to substantively engage with some of the region's emerging institutions," Baron added.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, political science professor and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, said the tie up between the two river commissions was "a further step as a bulwark against China's upstream dams and unilateral Mekong takeover".
"The US government is clearly on a full-court press in Southeast Asia," Pongsudhirak said, adding that the grant to the MRC would give the commission more resources to work with and was another sign of US commitment to Southeast Asia in the face of China's LMC mechanism.
Pongsudhirak said that in the maritime domain, the US had pushed back against China in the South China Sea by setting up the Aukus trilateral security pact comprising the US, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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