ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses scholarly literature on dam projects with Chinese engagement. It presents an overview on the dam projects pursued on the Salween River and in Myanmar. The chapter also presents the cases of the Mong Ton and Hat Gyi Dam projects on Myanmar's Salween River. Data from semi-structured interviews are combined with a systematic collection and review of scholarly writings on Chinese engagement overseas. The Salween River with a length of 2,800 km is the last remaining undammed major river ecosystem in mainland Southeast Asia. The river originates in the Tibetan Plateau and flows through China as the Nu River, before becoming the Salween River in Myanmar and Thailand and emptying into the Andaman Sea. Dam development proposals for the Nu River were collected from potential developers from 1999 onwards. The Chapter also provides the background on dam development on the Salween River and in Myanmar in order to contextualize the case studies.
