China has denied releasing water from the Jinghong Dam in Yunnan into the Mekong River, following comments that such discharges might have contributed to flooding in Thailand’s northern and northeastern regions
The Chinese embassy in Bangkok said in a statement that the dam had no connection to the flood situation in Thailand since it has not released any water lately.
Embassy officials asked various state agencies and learned that Chinese rivers were in a normal condition for this time of year. Reservoirs connected to the Lancang River — as the Mekong is known in China — were storing water between Aug 18 and 25, the embassy said.
The average daily outflow of water at the Jinghong Dam had fallen by 60% compared to August last year, and the dam has not released water recently, according to the embassy.
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, while visiting flood victims in Chiang Rai on Tuesday, was reported to have said that the unusually high amount of water in the Mekong might have resulted from China releasing an abundance of water as it was also experiencing floods.
He claimed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was negotiating with the Chinese government on ways to release water without overflowing the river.
It is unclear if the embassy’s statement was in response to the comments by Thaksin.
The embassy said Chinese authorities are concerned about the flooding.
“The six countries in the Lancang (Mekong) River Basin are a community of a shared future connected by mountains and rivers,” it said on its Facebook page.
“China fully respects and accommodates the interests and concerns of other basin countries and is willing to further strengthen information sharing and cooperation about water resources, improve the comprehensive management capacity in the basin, and jointly respond to challenges such as climate change and floods.”
As of Wednesday, the water level in the Mekong in Nakhon Phanom had risen to around 10.4 metres, about 1.6 metres below the overflow level, with a mass of water coming from the North.
Provincial officials have warned local authorities in Muang, Ban Phaeng, Tha Uthen, and That Phanom districts to install large water pumps to prepare for any overflow. Residents have also been told to keep an eye on weather reports.
