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Hydro-Hegemony Assertion: the Dragon on the Mainland Southeast Asia

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Abstract

In the Xi Jinping era, China is actively implementing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) around the globe. Under the BRI, infrastructure development has become the main agenda for China to create connectivity. One of the infrastructure projects in the energy sector is the Nam Ou Cascade Hydropower Project. The Nam Ou River is a tributary of the Mekong River located in Laos and borders China. For Laos, this project is part of their vision to be “The battery of Southeast Asia.” Therefore, this article attempts to explain that Nam Ou Hydropower has implications for China’s dominance in the Mekong region. The circle hydro-hegemony is used as the conceptual framework for analyzing the phenomenon. This article also applies a qualitative method with secondary data. The article shows that the Nam Ou Cascade Hydropower Project in Laos elevates China’s influence in the Mekong region. By actively pulling and pushing its neighbors into cooperation, China exercises its power as an upstream country.

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  1. Department of International Relations, Universitas Andalas, Padang, Indonesia

    Inda Mustika Permata

  2. Asia-Pacific Regional Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan

    Inda Mustika Permata

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Permata, I.M. Hydro-Hegemony Assertion: the Dragon on the Mainland Southeast Asia. East Asia (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-023-09423-7

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