Foreign and Military Affairs

China launches Mekong River Basin flood control training

By Liang Chao (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-06-20 09:37

China launched a two-week long training course in flood control and disaster mitigation on Saturday for 17 experts from five countries downstream of the Mekong River Basin in a bid to share experience and technology to prevent future tragedies.

The course, the first of its kind ever held in China for member countries of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), including Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, will focus on China’s progress in flood management and emergency response, forecasting and the decision support system for flood-control and early warning.

The 14-day training will also cover themes of cooperation on trans-boundary rivers in China, the country’s integrated river planning, river sedimentation management and control measures along with related case studies, according to the Ministry of Water Resources, which sponsored the program through a special fund of the Chinese government for regional cooperation in Asia.

Presiding over opening ceremony for the course, Jia Jinsheng, vice president of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, which organized the training, said the course aimed at providing a platform for all the participants to have an in-depth communication and exchanges with Chinese experts and improve mutual trust and understanding for further cooperation.

Speaking on behalf of MRC Secretariat, Khem Sothea said participants of the MRC member countries will develop a clear and positive set of recommendations for future consideration through training, which also include technical tours visiting some of China’s key water-control infrastructures.

Briefing China’s achievements in the field at the opening ceremony, Chen Mingzhong, an official for the department of international cooperation, science and technology of the ministry, said China has many international rivers with the world’s utmost complicated issues related to them.

However, he made it clear that China “will never do anything that will jeopardize the interests of those nations downstream of these rivers.”

Echoed Chen, Lu Haitian, deputy director of the department of international organizations and conferences under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said China has provided the MRC with the flood season hydrological date of the Langcang River of eight straight years since 2002.

Activists in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, comprising MRC, once sought to blame upstream Chinese dams on the Lancang River for low-water levels on the critical waterway.

The 4,350 km Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, runs through China's Tibetan Plateau, Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

“The service has contributed to the flood control and disaster mitigation efforts in the downstream countries,” Lu said, “China has conducted extensive technical and personnel exchanges with the MRC and lower Mekong countries to improve the capacity of water resources management and participated key forum it sponsored along with its summit in April.”

Last week, Jeremy, Bird, the CEO of MRC，together with 15 other of his officials, has paid a successful visited to Chain.

As a responsible country, China is committed to achieving sustainable development and use of the Langcang River water resources, fully accommodating the interests of downstream countries, he said.

While developing hydropower on the Langcang River, China has taken many measures on its initiative to protect the environment its environment by formulating thorough plans and acting in strict compliance with national standards, he said, adding “some of which even came at the expense of hydropower development.”

According to him, China cancelled the Mengsong hydropower plant project on the river to avoid impact on fish migration. To prevent abnormal downstream water level fluctuations caused by power plant operation, the country plans to build the Galena counter-regulation reservoir and set aside 200 million Yuan ($29.29 million) for the stratified water intake project in the Noshed hydropower plant construction plan.