5. Hydro-Hegemony in East and Southeast Asia: The Case of the Lancang/Mekong River

This chapter focuses on China and the Lancang/Mekong river within the Greater Mekong Subregion through the theory of hydro-hegemony to understand the transboundary water conflict in the region. Originating in the People’s Republic of China and flowing through five ASEAN nations, the Lancang/Mekong river has become a new source of international water conflict. The upper stream country, China, is interested in exploiting the hydropower capacity of the river to supply the energy needs of its eastern urban territories, whereas the downstream, developing countries, and most importantly, the poor people within these states are dependent on the river’s capacity to provide water for the agriculture as well as fish for their fishermen, while governments have also begun to investigate the possibility of hydropower utilization. China is expected to reshape the region and the river via the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC), the Belt and Road Initiative, and bilateral and multilateral agreements. Diverse trade agreements, infrastructure projects, and investments enable Beijing to exert direct influence over the fate of these countries in order to establish a secure border region. Through hydro-hegemony theory and the above-mentioned Chinese strategies created to control the water resources of the river, this chapter introduces the case of China and the Lancang/Mekong river, focusing on the Lancang cascade, an example of power asymmetry around a transboundary water issue, and analyzing China’s behavior as an obvious hegemon in the region.