China and the Accountability Politics of Hydropower Development: How Effective are Transnational Advocacy Networks in the Mekong Region?

Abstract

Abstract:This article explores the ecological footprint of Chinese overseas investment in the Mekong region's hydropower sector, and examines how Chinese dam developers can be compelled into responding to mounting external pressure and adopting policies that resonate more with responsible investment norms. It argues that an important dynamic has been the development of transnational advocacy networks within the region's evolving public sphere. Working to renegotiate the parameters of socially acceptable conduct, civil society actors and their partners have been at the forefront of challenging the traditional development paradigm adhered to by governments in the Mekong region, effectively casting a critical light on the adverse impacts of Chinese-backed infrastructure schemes. Here, campaigns spearheaded by local and international NGOs have proved crucial to raising public awareness, as well as to sensitizing the Chinese government and its state-owned enterprises to their environmental and social responsibilities within a contested political space.