The first summit about the Mekong

Leaders of the four Southeast Asian countries began to discuss with China about the dryness of the Mekong.

The Prime Ministers of Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia at the summit in Hua Hin on April 5 . Photo: AFP.

AFP said that the Prime Ministers of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and China's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Song Tao attended a meeting this morning in the city of Hua Hin, Thailand. Leaders discussed ways to manage the Mekong - the river that is linked to the lives of more than 60 million people - in the context of ongoing water shortages across the region. Public opinion is debating the role of climate change and hydroelectric dams in China on the exhaustion of the Mekong.

This is the first summit in the 15-year history of the Mekong River Commission (MRC). River water levels in Laos and northern Thailand are at their lowest level in 50 years.

'All attention is focused on China. I think all bilateral meetings between China and each country will be extremely important , 'AFP quoted Jeremy Bird, executive director of the Mekong River Commission.

Mr Bird rejected the idea that China's dams drained the Mekong. However, delegates from four Southeast Asian countries attending the conference confirmed that only accurate data on the Mekong could ease the worries of public opinion.

'We want to know the actual numbers,' said Isra Sunthornvut, a Thai official who attended the conference.

Last week the Chinese embassy in Bangkok announced that it never did anything to harm the interests of the countries of the Mekong basin. Beijing also agreed to share data on river levels in two Chinese hydroelectric dams during the dry season this year.

The MRC warned that hydroelectric dams and population booms could threaten the Mekong and its ecosystems. The current state of water depletion makes it difficult to circulate the cargo ships and cruise ships. Many ships were stranded.

The southwestern region of China is also suffering the worst drought in history that has left more than 24 million people lacking drinking water. Beijing thinks that the cause of drought is unusually low rainfall, not human works. China has 8 hydropower dams that have been and are about to be completed upstream of the Mekong. The officials affirmed that the dams helped release water during the dry season and prevent floods during the rainy season.

Vice Minister of China Water Resources Liu Ning said China still needs to build more dams to ensure food and water security. Countries downstream of the Mekong are also considering building 12 more dams.