There is increasing worry in Southeast Asia about the impact on regional seafood production from Chinese plans to dam and widen the Mekong River under its “One Belt, One Road” scheme.
Published at the recently concluded Congress of China’s Communist Party, the plan calls for a canal-style connection of major inland provinces like Yunnan to Luang Prabang and the South China Sea. This would have a massive impact on the flow of the river.
Preparation documents for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, which took place on 14 November in the Philippines, suggest growing alarm among Vietnamese officials in particular. According to a report on Vietnam state television, the damming of the Mekong would have a drastic effect on the Mekong Delta, which is home to much of the country’s shrimp production.
