In the Mekong sub-region, most countries are developing ones, creating grounds for improvement, especially in infrastructure and energy development, which need a lot of investment and raw materials for every development project. So, the Mekong sub-region is considered as a potential export and investment market for China to help its economy. In addition, there is the Lancang–Mekong River’s importance in connecting Europe through Southeast Asia and beyond in the Belt and Road Initiatives launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This has led to the establishment of the LMC Mechanism.
On the November 13, 2014, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang formally proposed the initiative at the 17th China–ASEAN Summit, held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, to establish a framework regarding the Lancang–Mekong River Dialogue and Cooperation. Just one year later, in November 2015, the LMC mechanism was founded. Its founding members were China and five other Mekong states — Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam — all also Mainland ASEAN countries. In reality, the genesis of the LMC was Thailand’s proposal at the Conference on Sustainable Development in the Lancang–Mekong sub-region, which aimed to organize ways of addressing challenges, such as natural disasters, faced by all six Mekong riparian countries and to explore possible cooperation for sustainable development (Department of Government Public Relations, 2013). Even though the Thai Foreign Ministry was merely mentioned, in the press release saying that the LMC framework was “initiated by Thailand and endorsed by China” (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, 2015), China has acknowledged that Thailand first proposed the preliminary idea and that the Chinese proposal was echoing Thailand’s initiative on the sustainable development of the Lancang–Mekong sub-region (Li, 2014). The five countries in the Mekong sub-region all welcomed the proposal.
It is because of the positive responses from the Mekong countries that the First LMC Senior Officials’ Meeting was held in Beijing on April 6, 2015. It was co-chaired by China and Thailand. It fully displayed that since its conception, the LMC had been driven by the common aspiration of China and the Mekong River countries, as well as Mainland ASEAN countries. The participants at the meeting discussed the concept paper for creating the framework, including the objectives, direction, and priority areas.
The Second LMC Senior Officials’ Meeting was held in Chiang Rai, Thailand, on August 21, 2015. It was again co-chaired by China and Thailand. The meeting discussed the concept paper for the creation of the LMC, the Early Harvest Projects, and the arrangement for the First Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. At the meeting, China’s Vice Foreign Minister put forward a three-point proposal on the LMC that can be summarized as follows:
1.To cement a sense of community and to maintain long-lasting peace and stability in the region;
2.To enhance the overall design and long-term planning and to build a multi-layered cooperation structure and other mechanisms;
3.To stick to the philosophy of openness and inclusiveness and to complement and coordinate development and to intensify exchanges of experience with the existing mechanisms on sub-regional cooperation (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, 2015a).
The meeting produced the LMC Concept Paper to establish the framework, which would be submitted to the First Foreign Ministers’ Meeting for endorsement.
The First LMC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting took place in the city of Jinghong, Yunnan, China, on November 12, 2015, and was organized and co-chaired by Thailand. The meeting issued a joint press communiqué marking the official establishment of the LMC framework. The communiqué of the First LMC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting indicated a consensus and the outcomes reached during the meeting. It adopted the LMC Concept Paper, which specified the objectives, principles, framework mechanisms, and major areas of cooperation, agreeing to establish a multi-layered LMC structure and to hold the First LMC Leaders’ Meeting (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, 2015b).
Creating a framework for international cooperation is full of complexity and requires a good system, necessitating consensus from every member country. In some cases it makes the establishment of a cooperation framework difficult and slow. However, for the LMC, the establishment and progression have been quite unique and effective. It took just over a year for the cooperation to take shape from the initial proposal and planning, which is impressive. Since the beginning of 2015, multiple consultations, including work group meetings, senior diplomatic officials’ meetings, and foreign ministers’ meetings have been held in many places, from Beijing to Chiang Mai, Thailand; from Jinghong in Yunnan Province to Sanya in Hainan Province, China. During the preparation of the mechanism, the six countries have showed effective coordination, willingness to cooperate, inclusive negotiation attitudes, and harmonious interaction (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, 2016).
The First LMC Leaders’ Meeting was successfully held on March 23, 2016 in Sanya, China’s Hainan Province, and brought together Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Vice President of Myanmar Sai Mauk Kham, and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh. The summit was held with the theme of “Shared river, Shared future” and announced that the LMC’s practical cooperation would be carried out through three cooperation pillars, namely, (1) Political and Security issues, (2) Economic and Sustainable Development, and (3) Social Cultural and People-to-People exchanges. This meeting also discussed a wide range of issues concerning the Mekong region, including political issues, economic cooperation, security, the environment, and cultures of the Mekong countries. This meeting concluded with three output documents consisting of: (1) The Sanya Declaration of the 1st LMC Leaders’ Meeting; (2) Joint Statement of the Production Capacity Cooperation of the LMC Countries; (3) Joint List of the LMC Early Harvest Projects.
The Sanya Declaration contains 26 points, ranging from cooperating to fight non-traditional security threats such as transnational crime and terrorism to enhancing transport connectivity. More than 40 projects are listed under the early harvest scheme, which allows the countries in the basin to begin projects such as a water utility monitoring system at the Mekong Mainstream and Information Centre. The leaders agreed to hold an LMC Leaders’ Meeting once every two years and an LMC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting once a year to conduct policy planning and coordination for cooperation. The joint list, along with the Sanya Declaration and the Joint Statement on Production Capacity Cooperation among Lancang–Mekong Countries, laid a solid foundation and charted the course for LMC development.
The Second LMC Leaders’ Meeting was held on January 10, 2018, in Phnom Penh in the Kingdom of Cambodia, with the theme of “Our River of Peace and Sustainable Development” to chart the future course of the LMC into the next decade. The meeting endorsed two outcome documents: the Phnom Penh Declaration and the Five-Year Plan of Action (2018–2022). The Phnom Penh Declaration reflects the leaders’determination to utilize the LMC to achieve its goals in social and economic development for people in the Mekong sub-region. The Five-Year Plan of Action 2018–2022 has been formulated in accordance with documents including the Sanya Declaration adopted at the first LMC Leaders’ Meeting, which aims to contribute to the economic and social development of sub-regional countries, enhancing the well-being of the people, narrowing the development gap within the region, and building a Community with a Shared Future of Peace and Prosperity among the Lancang–Mekong Countries. We can say that the Five-Year Plan of Action not only points the way for the development of the LMC mechanism but also paints a detailed blueprint for the specific implementation and progress of cooperation matters.
3.3.The Opportunities Given to the Mekong Sub-region Countries of the LMC
The LMC mechanism, despite being a novel idea when it comes to cooperation among the countries in the Mekong basin, has yielded fruitful results and achieved better-than-expected outcomes. It is entering a phase of further growth from the initial phase of nurturing and has demonstrated a “Lancang–Mekong speed and efficiency” (Xinhua News Agency, Lancang–Mekong Cooperation — A Bid to Build Community of Shared Future, 2018).
First,