Dec. 3 (UPI) — Unregulated mining across the Mekong region is accelerating at a pace that environmental researchers warn is outstripping governance, enforcement and ecological safeguards.

From Myanmar’s jade-rich northern highlands to informal gold pits along Laos and Cambodia’s riverbanks, mineral extraction is expanding in some of Southeast Asia’s most fragile ecosystems, often beyond the reach of national law and outside public scrutiny.

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Hanoi (VNA) – General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and President of Vietnam To Lam held talks with visiting General Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee and President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith following an official welcome ceremony for the Lao leader in Hanoi on September 10.

The two leaders informed each other about the situation of each Party and country and exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern. They also agreed on orientations, policies and measures to develop the bilateral great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation to a new height.

The Lao leader, his spouse and a high-ranking delegation of Laos are paying a state visit to Vietnam from September 10-13 as guests of Party General Secretary and President To Lam and his spouse.

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The government will use the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation (MLC) meeting this week to seek cooperation from neighbouring countries to address the problem of call centre scam gangs.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he had instructed Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa to raise the issue with participating countries and explore effective strategies for dealing with cross-border crime, including tackling call centre scams. The 9th MLC meeting is scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Chiang Mai.

Mr Maris stressed that regional cooperation is crucial to solving transnational crime, which includes the narcotics trade, human trafficking and fraud. He said the governments of Laos, China and India have placed importance on transnational crime and agreed to enhance cooperation to address these issues.

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The fifth Thai – Lao friendship bridge, which links Bueng Kan province of Thailand with Pakxan town of Laos, is scheduled to open this November.

Deputy Transport Minister of Thailand Manaporn Charoensri said recently that the project features a 1.35km crossover with a dual-lane road traversing the Mekong River and a four-lane bypass on the Thailand side.

The bypass links Highway No.222 (Bueng Kan – Phang Khon) with Nong Khai, Nakhon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon provinces of Thailand. Additionally, a 2.86km dual-lane bypass in Pakxan is also included in the project.

Manaporn noted the project, worth 3.9 billion THB (105 million USD) in total, aims to facilitate transportation between Thailand and Laos. When operational, the bridge will help transporters decrease costs and time spent on cargo transportation between the two countries, thus benefiting logistics and tourism.

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TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A Vietnamese delegation’s visit to China last week has underscored increasingly close economic ties between the territorial rivals, which analysts say is posing a challenge to the dominance of South Korean investment in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue led the high-level delegation from April 7 to 12 and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Hue proposed the two countries create a new push for trade development and “connect Vietnam to China’s large development strategies.”

He also met with the heads of many large Chinese companies that want to participate in Vietnam’s infrastructure construction.

China is Vietnam’s largest trade partner and on the way to becoming its biggest foreign direct investor.

A representative of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or KCCI, in Vietnam last week told Nikkei Asia that Chinese companies are pushing back South Korean firms as China steps up investment in Vietnam.

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BEIJING (AP) — China and Zambia upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership on Friday, the latest move by America’s chief global rival to forge deeper ties with the Global South.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Zambian counterpart announced the agreement shortly after Xi had exchanged cordial words with another visitor, the new prime minister of Cambodia. The flurry of diplomatic activity came just two days after Venezuela’s president met Xi and the two elevated their countries’ ties to an “all-weather” partnership.

The trio of leaders from Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America speak to China’s growing role in those parts of the world and China’s ambitions to be a global leader. Facing growing pressure from the U.S. and its partners, which fear China’s rise could disrupt the existing international order, the world’s second largest economy is trying to project itself as a powerful nation standing up for the interests of the Global South.

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Vietnam has joined three other Southeast Asian governments in denouncing a new map published by China’s government, which depicted the country’s expansive claims in the South China Sea.

The so-called “new standard” map, which was published by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources on August 28, has prompted inflamed responses from across the country’s periphery, where China has a number of outstanding maritime and territorial disputes.

In particular, the map’s depiction of the South China Sea has included the expansive “nine-dash line” claim, with a tenth dash added to the east of the island of Taiwan. According to Reuters, the new standard map contains a wider version of the Chinese claim than the map that China submitted to the United Nations in 2009.

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The 23rd preparatory conference of the nine provinces of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand that share the use of Road 8 and Road 12 was recently held in the central Lao province of Bolykhamsay to review their cooperation.

A representative of Bolykhamsay province reported the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding reached at the previous conference in the central province of Ha Tinh in September 2019.

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Confirming that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will pay an official visit to China, China’s Foreign Ministry said that the visit fully demonstrates the high level of China-Cambodia relations. Experts believe that the two countries will play an exemplary role in Southeast Asia and will help to promote the development plans of more members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the Cambodian premier will visit China from Thursday to Saturday, China’s Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. 

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