River Politics: China's policies in the Mekong and the Brahmaputra in comparative perspective

Benefit sharing in the Mekong River basin

“…In addition to socio-economic benefits, the effect of Chinese development aid bestowed on the downstream countries, in particular Lao PDR and Cambodia, has helped bolster socio-economic development in the fields of transport, telecommunication, health, education, human resources development and construction, which can lead to regional cooperation (Ho, 2014;Reilly, 2012;Schmeier, 2010). Also, Chinese investment in downstream dams has softened complaints about the China's upstream dams (Ho, 2014).…”

“…Also, Chinese investment in downstream dams has softened complaints about the China's upstream dams (Ho, 2014). China's benign attitude towards the downstream countries has been driven partly by its efforts to secure more energy through a diversification of import routes, such as Myanmar's gas pipeline and international seaports in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia (Eyler, 2013;Lee, 2013).…”

The Smart Revisionist

“…The cover of regional organisations, such as ASEAN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, has allowed China to mitigate the distrust of its smaller neighbours; promote its trade interests; develop some military confidence-building measures; push initiatives to combat piracy and terrorism further up the agenda; and still play on the divisions between other members when they attempt to form a front against Beijing. In this way, it has deflected criticism of its allegedly unfair competitive practices and South China Sea policies through ASEAN, and warded off complaints about its construction of a dam on the Mekong River via the Asian Development Bank's Greater Mekong Subregion programme 22. China's behaviour in the last few decades could therefore be described as 'flexibility without compromise'.…”

Powering or sharing water in the Brahmaputra River basin

“…During the dialogue meetings the lack of bilateral and multilateral agreements and treaties between Brahmaputra riparian countries was often discussed. Both India and China prefer to engage riparian states at the bilateral level (Ho, 2014;Wouters, 2014), whereas Bhutan and Bangladesh appear to be open to multilateral cooperation. Bangladesh has been trying to open up new avenues of cooperation through treaties with Nepal and Bhutan involving more than two nations, but these attempts are project-specific and have not made much progress yet (Singh n.d).…”

“…The bilateralism favoured by China and India is another challenge, particularly for the Brahmaputra basin, where multiple countries are involved. China is willing to pursue multilateralism when it is in its interest to do so and when there is more trust and engagement between China and the countries involved (Ho, 2014). In this light, its policies towards multilateralism over international river systems vary, and depend on the overall nature of its relations with other riparian states (Ho, 2014).…”