The water politics of China and Southeast Asia II: Rivers, dams, cargo boats and the environment

Dr Milton Osborne

Summary
In a new Lowy Institute Perspectives, Milton Osborne, a visiting fellow at the Institute, evaluates the social and economic impacts for the littoral states of the damming of the Salween River and the opening of the Mekong River to large cargo boats. Both of these processes are being driven by China's rapid economic growth and are integrating China more closely with continental Southeast Asia. Yet, as Milton's earlier work for the Institute on the Mekong emphasises, not all is smooth sailing and the regional politics of water management are bound to become more contentious.

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