the fountain for development

1、<p>　　The Fountain for Development</p><p>　　The strongest El Ni？o weather cycle on record has exacerbated drought in the Mekong River area since the end of last year， and the Mekong River’s water level

2、has fallen to a 90-year low. Due to the river’s vastly reduced water flow， tens of thousands of hectares of farmland downstream in Viet Nam are likely to be flooded by seawater. </p><p>　　The Mekong River ru

3、ns through five countries， namely Myanmar， Laos， Thailand， Cambodia and Viet Nam， in the Indo-China Peninsula. It is the downstream of southwest China’s Lancang River. </p><p>　　At the request of the Vietnam

4、ese Government， China took action on March 15 to pour water into the Mekong River to alleviate the drought downstream even though China itself faces the same threat. In the face of natural disasters， the six countries al

5、ong the Lancang-Mekong River exhibited the spirit of generosity and mutual assistance. </p><p>　　Against such a backdrop， the First Lancang-Mekong Cooperation （LMC） Leaders’ Meeting was held in Sanya， south

6、China’s Hainan Province， on March 23. </p><p>　　Chinese Premier Li Keqiang together with top government leaders from the other five countries attended the meeting， which marked the beginning of the new patte

7、rn of Lancang-Mekong subregional cooperation. Discussions on common development issues centered on the meeting’s theme： Shared River， Shared Future. </p><p>　　New framework </p><p>　　The LMC is

8、set to be a new framework for promoting Lancang-Mekong sub-regional economic expansion. </p><p>　　Because of difficult geographical conditions and outdated transport infrastructure， economic development alon

9、g the Mekong River remained slow and backward for a long time. </p><p>　　Since the 1990s， however， regional cooperation along the Mekong River has captured the attention of both the countries directly concer

10、ned and the international community. </p><p>　　Apart from the LMC， three major regional cooperation mechanisms now exist in the Mekong River area. In order of establishment， the first is the Great Mekong Sub

11、region Cooperation （GMS）， which was initiated by the six riparian countries in 1992 under a proposal of the Asian Development Bank （ADB）. The second is the Mekong River Commission， which was established by Thailand， Laos

12、， Cambodia and Viet Nam in 1995， but could be dated back to a joint downstream survey coordination commission set up by </p><p>　　The Mekong River Commission， for example， serves as a dialogue platform betwe

13、en four downstream countries. The one which involves ASEAN aims at promoting economic development in Myanmar， Laos， Cambodia and Viet Nam and integration within the ASEAN Economic Community. It also serves as a platform

14、to enhance economic cooperation between ASEAN and China. With the participation of Japan and South Korea， the mechanism has become a part of the “10 plus 3” cooperation between ASEAN and China， Japan and</p><p

15、>　　GMS， comprised of six riparian countries， has held summits since 2002. China once regarded it as a major channel to promote Mekong River subregional cooperation. But， the GMS centers on the construction of individu

16、al projects， and the ADB must work as a major participant and sponsor. Moreover， it has been difficult for the GMS to work efficiently on facilitating infrastructure construction in the region because Japan， the dominant

17、 country of the ADB， focuses on competing with China in many aspec</p><p>　　Therefore， the First LMC Leaders’Meeting marks a new pattern of multilateral cooperation in the subregion. First of all， the LMC ha

18、s been established by the six riparian countries along the Lancang-Mekong River on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. Secondly， it is designed to build a community of common destiny and to seek broader and deeper

19、international cooperation. The LMC can therefore better meet the common needs of the riparian countries. </p><p>　　Affected by the El Ni？o phenomenon， the whole Lancang-Mekong River area suffered a severe dr

20、ought in 2010. Upstream， in southwest China’s Yunnan Province， the river almost dried up. At that time， some Western media tried to flare up the tensions between China and the other riparian countries by criticizing Chin

21、a’s dam construction upstream. In April of that year， the Mekong River Commission convened the first leaders’ meeting where the then Prime Minister of Thailand， Abhisit Vejjajiva， thanked </p><p>　　In Novemb

22、er 2014， at the 17th ChinaASEAN Leaders’ Meeting， held in Myanmar’s capital， Naypyidaw， Premier Li called for the creation of the Lancang-Mekong cooperation mechanism in an echo to Thailand’s proposal on promoting sustai

23、nable development in the region. 　　Through consultations and talks， the first foreign ministers’ meeting of the LancangMekong Cooperation was held in Jinghong of Yunnan Province in November 2015. The ministerial meeting

24、 released a coopera- tion document and a joint comm</p><p>　　Common goal </p><p>　　The core value of China’s foreign policy centers on equality， mutual benefit and common development. </p>

25、<p>　　In recent years， China has proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21stCentury Maritime Silk Road Initiative， which aims at interlinking the development plans of participating countries. </p><

26、;p>　　The LMC framework is established on the basis of building a community of common destiny. The shared river brings together six countries that are deeply aware of this objective. For this reason， the LMC framework

27、goes far beyond the realm of economics. </p><p>　　At the first LMC ministerial meeting， the six countries pledged to work together in three major fields―political security， sustainable economic development a

28、nd cultural and social undertakings. Furthermore， the six countries agreed to prioritize cooperation on connectivity， industrial capacity， cross-border trade， water resources， agriculture and poverty reduction， all of wh

29、ich the development of the region strongly requires. </p><p>　　The first LMC leaders’ meeting pushed </p><p>　　the subregional cooperation in the Lancang-Mekong area to new heights. In the Sanya

30、 Declaration issued at the meeting， leaders agreed to take concrete measures on a total of 26 items. China pledged to provide strong support for cooperation. The declaration mentions， for example， “China’s commitment to

31、establishing an LMC fund， providing concessional loans and special loans， and providing 18，000 scholarships every year and 5，000 training opportunities to candidates from Mekong countries in the ne</p><p>　　

32、Though it has a promising future， the LMC framework will face plenty of challenges without question. </p><p>　　The world is undergoing unprecedented and profound changes both economically and politically. De

33、veloping countries have been striving to find their rightful place in the world， while power politics has not vanished from the current international order. </p><p>　　The United States is increasingly involv

34、ed in regional affairs under its AsiaPacific rebalancing strategy. Also， Japan has begun to adopt a more aggressive foreign policy under right-wing political leaders in a bid to take a leading position in Asian affairs.

35、Both countries asserted that China’s effort to strengthen cooperation with Mekong River riparian countries is a measure to expand its regional influence. For this reason， they tend to countervail China’s influence by off

36、ering competing opti</p><p>　　China’s release of more water upstream to mediate drought affecting Vietnamese farmland this spring demonstrates the case in point. Some scholars from U.S. think tanks claimed t

37、hat China wanted to control other riparian countries with water resources. Rather than paying attention to such statements， countries along the Lancang-Mekong River should make efforts to enhance political trust and coor

38、dination on the use of water resources through dialogue and consultation. </p><p>　　Countries should seek mutual benefit rather than confront each other in zero-sum games. As long as they work together as a