How China raised the “superpower” along the Mekong as long as the other countries and the actual power of controlling the water flow.

For a long time, water has been one of the very important factors to contribute to a collective society, setting the premise for ancient as well as modern social civilizations today. Along with the flow of history, the great ancient human civilizations all originated from great rivers (e.g. Yellow River, Mesopotamia, Nile, etc). Along with the flow of water, people know how to take advantage of significant benefits such as cooking, moving, bathing, etc. Even, water is an invisible force that countries later seek to control in colonial countries. Over time, the world has recorded many battles on the river – one of the most difficult terrains suitable for war. Not only China in modern times has utilized the good function of the Mekong River to influence the neighbor regions but also includes many other large countries such as the US, UK, France, and Germany, which have colonized the other countries and how well they make use of river resources. This article will talk about the nature of the act to control the rivers of countries which is manifested and influenced. In particular, the article will explore how China creates "superpower" over its near and far neighbors.

The relationship between modern nations and clean water becomes increasingly complex because these variables are interdependent and have overlapping associations. This is a circle that mainly revolves around variations such as clean water, the “river” belongs to nature, is under the management of the state, and is responsible for being a part of society. The water flow of nature has always played an important role in providing a source of life for people, plants, and animals belonging to the driving forces of agriculture and industry. And coordinate the clean water flows to the right places, this is the task of the state. As Sunil Armith mentioned in the keynote, "The landscape of water has always been shaped by human intervention." (Armith, p.46). And society is the beneficiary of what nature offers and the state – human beings are responsible for its rational use. Modern countries realize the importance and limitations of existing water sources, so they have set up laws related to "freshwater", and "river". Because there have been many phenomena of social destruction to this resource. “It is necessary to examine the 'social roles' of fish, waterfowl, 'human positions, dams and irrigation drain' to understand the structure of water” (Wilson, p.199). In addition, talking about the state's economic policy and social security is also related to the huge role of water resources. Amirth mentioned that in the years of the nineteenth century, the Indian economy had a great change in understanding of the role of "freshwater" because the market forced them to produce according to the sources of demand. demand is available. Thereby, we see the extremely important role of natural resources, wind, "rivers", and "freshwater" in the standard of living of the society. this natural treasure.

Take the article “China Limited the Mekong’s Flow. Other Countries Suffered a Drought” to see how China's influence when managing the Mekong River has affected its power and resources to neighboring countries? In addition, China's neighbors have suffered droughts and floods before every act of the Chinese elite. Farmers and fishers in Laos have endured an extremely severe loss of income. In the article, “Fisheries say their catches have declined precipitously. Persistent droughts and sudden floods have buffeted farmers.” China is the master of the game, they control the headwaters of the Mekong River, so there will be "A backlash is growing among countries that feel they are losing out". In addition, Mr. Bassist also said that “There was just a huge volume of water that was being held back in China”. Back at the beginning, foreign minister Wang Yi said that China has sympathy for Laos and that “China was also suffering from arid conditions that were sucking water from one of the world’s most productive rivers”. But can the whole country of China feel the fact that manual farmers and fishers far south are suffering or only a small part of China's farmers, and fishers in the same industry can? understand? On the contrary, the benefits of money and power are constantly pouring into the Chinese elite to enhance their influence in the world - that's exactly what China has been doing for many years now. . Like Mr. Brian Eyler said “The problem is that the Chinese elite sees water as somethings for their use, not as a shared commodity”. Politically, China says it will build a "win-win" relationship with other nations. In contrast, the partner countries found that “Countries, Sri Lanka & Djibouti, have fallen into what critics fear are debt traps, as strategic projects end up in Chinese hands. Other African and Asian nations are worried that China is simply another imperial power eager to vacuum up natural resources without concern for the local people.” In short, is China listening and sharing a common resource with its neighbors, or is it trying to use this fertile resource as a means to create “a different kind of superpower?”

The article has pointed out many issues related to the “fresh water” sources, water flow and the consequence of the state on society. Regarding the nature of “fresh water“, the first paragraph has shown that the state is always the first group to directly control, act and offer appropriate strategies to serve their goals. Other basic issues such as the consequences of the Mekong Delta hydropowers, the desaster impact on the local people, the income, and finally, the water source for the residents. In conclusion, the nature use water of human to serve the basic purposes has been transformed into serving political purposes. Putting the sustainable development or the ethical issues in governing the country aside, whether the state could carefully consider the choice of using “fresh water” for external or domestic purposes would be more important?

Wilson, R. I. (Ed.). 2021. " In Turbulent streams an environmental history of Japan's rivers, 1600- 1930." By R. I. (Ed.) Wilson, 197-205.

Beech, Hannah. 2020. "China Limited The Mekongs Flow Other Countries Suffered a Drought." The NY Times.

Sunil Amrith, Unruly Waters: How Mountain Rivers and Monsoons Have Shaped South Asia’s History, Penguin, 2020, pp. 17-22, 38-4