| Lancang-Mekong River is a river with abundant natural resources.It has great development potential in hydropower,shipping,minerals,tourism,irrigation,agriculture and fishery,and is known as the "Oriental Danube".The water resources of Mekong River are of great economic value to Laos.The mainstream of Mekong River flows through Laos for 1,805 kilometers,and the theoretical hydropower development potential of Laos is about 26,000 MW.Laos relies on this river to develop hydropower,agriculture,shipping and tourism to get rid of poverty and develop its own economy.Actively carrying out water diplomacy in Laos can well alleviate the complicated water resources conflicts,give full play to the resource advantages and safeguard national interests,and promote the cooperation and regional integration between Laos and basin countries,which is in line with national strategic interests.Firstly,this paper expounds the concept and cognition of water diplomacy in Laos,and then analyzes the internal and external factors of water diplomacy in Laos.Then it discusses the goal,content and implementation path of Laos water diplomacy.After that,two representative cases are selected to show Laos’ water diplomacy practice.Through the case of Xayaburi Hydropower project and Lancang-Mekong international shipping,the main water resources contradictions and disputes faced by Laos are analyzed,the water diplomacy activities carried out by Laos are summarized,and the characteristics of Laos’ water diplomacy are extracted.Finally,the achievements and problems of Laos’ water diplomacy are summarized,and the future development direction of Laos’ water diplomacy is prospected.Based on the systematic analysis of Laos’ water diplomacy,this paper draws the following conclusions: First,the reasons for Laos’ water diplomacy are mainly divided into internal factors and external factors.Abundant water resources are the prerequisite for Laos to implement water diplomacy.National interests and foreign policy are the foundation for Laos to implement water diplomacy.The development,utilization and management of water resources lay a realistic foundation for Laos to implement water diplomacy.The basin countries,Mekong River Commission,foreign powers and international organizations constitute a complex external environment,which makes it more difficult for Laos to implement water diplomacy.But overall,the external environment is favorable for Laos to implement water diplomacy.Second,The characteristics of Laos’ water diplomacy include: relying on the river basin system,fully grasping the relationship between river basin countries,high cooperation and typicality.Third,Laos’ water diplomacy has achieved certain results,which not only promoted the smooth progress of Laos’ water resources development projects,but also avoided the escalation of water conflicts among basin countries,and improved Laos’ ability to deal with water problems.At the same time,some problems have also been exposed,such as the lack of key national strategic policies and action plans,insufficient technology and theory,imperfect internal structure,scattered responsibilities of executing agencies and unclear division of labor. |
