On Security Cooperation In The Mekong River Shipping

Lancang-Mekong River, an international river through China, Laos, Burma,Thailand, Kampuchea and Vietnam, is the only joint of those6countries in Asia. Notonly does the river boost economic and trade exchanges between those countries, butalso the development and utilization of its navigation enhances cultural exchanges andpolitical mutual trust between countries.The reform and opening to the outside world has become Chinese strategy since1980’s. At that time, Yunnan province strengthened the cooperation with SoutheastAsian nations in the face of its regional advantages and exploiting a favorablecommunication channel was put on the agenda with the depth of the cooperation. TheMekong river navigation, beginning at the beginning of the90’s, grew up rapidly fromthe initial capacity of hundreds of tons to current capacity of hundreds of thousands oftons in the last20years. The economic and trade exchanges of those countries areflourishing through the Mekong River international navigation, which advantages areenormous carrying capacity and facilitation of compared with road transport andwhich also promotes the economic development of these countries.Heated cooperation within the region drives the regional economic developmentwith the continuous development of the Mekong River navigation. However, on theother hand, the safety problems of the navigation are remarkable because of thespecial geographical environment of this area. Occurrence of Mekong massacremakes us pay more attention to the navigation security and overseas citizens’ personalsafety problem initiated by Transboundary Rivers. The combined convoy by China,Laos, Burma and Thailand got certain achievements after the Mekong massacre,which referred to the trial of the biggest drug group of the Mekong River valley, RuKang group in2013. Nevertheless, the transnational mechanism of the securitycooperation still exist problems and need be improved.As the Mekong River navigation security is critical today, multilateral cooperation,comprehensive measures, strengthening cooperation mechanism and normativecooperation should be done. In the content of cooperation, to protect cross-bordernavigation safety, the GMS international policing cooperation mechanism should beestablished; the economic cooperation between China other countries in the valleyshould be pressed; the crew safety training cooperation should be processed; the Mekong River navigation crime should be struck through the cooperation of thetargeted countries.