China pushes for more security operations along Mekong in summit with Southeast Asian neighbours
- In talks with prime ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, China’s Li Qiang urges operations that ‘strike hard’ against cyber scams and other crimes
- Facing criticism over upstream water diversion, Li proposes basin-wide governance of the Mekong
“We should strengthen governance about security, deepen the progress of security operations along the Mekong, and strike hard against cyber crimes like gambling and fraud,” Li said via video-link to the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) Leaders’ Meeting, which he jointly hosted with co-chair, Myanmar’s military government leader Min Aung Hlaing.
The summit took place amid a push by China to crack down on the cross-border crimes mainly along the Mekong River basin, targeting Chinese nationals in particular.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also attended the event.
The meeting was a fourth summit for the grouping since it was established seven years ago as a regional forum that China uses to engage with the five Southeast Asian nations along the Mekong river, known as Lancang for the upper stream section in China.
“Positive progress has been made in building a community of shared destiny among the Lancang-Mekong countries. We should persistently promote this common cause,” Li said.
