Led By China Mekong Nations Take On Golden Triangle Narco-empire

The Wider Image: Taking on the Golden Triangle's narco-empire
Thomson Reuters




By Andrew R.C. Marshall

THE mekong delta homestay tour RIVER (Reuters) - The Lao People's Army patrol boat was custom-made in China with night-vision capability and two of the most powerful engines on this remote stretch of the jardin du mekong homestay River.

Today, like most days, it sits idle for lack of gasoline, guarded by a single Laotian soldier in flip-flops.

Even occasional patrols by boats like these, supplied by China to the Laotian army and Myanmar police, have successfully subdued the pirates who once robbed the Mekong's cargo ships with impunity.

But there has been little progress on another objective - stemming the flood of illicit drugs - exposing the limits of China's hard power in mainland Southeast Asia even as Beijing accelerates its militarization of disputed islands in the South China Sea.