Accession Number:

ADA621722

Title:

China on the Mekong: Legitimacy Imperatives and Policy Case Studies

Descriptive Note:

Master's thesis

Corporate Author:

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA

Personal Author(s):

• Knott, Gregory J.

Report Date:

2013-12-01

Pagination or Media Count:

89.0

Abstract:

Chinas economic reforms revealed the Chinese Communist Partys search for a new basis for political legitimacy and authority. The PRCs contemporary political bargain is best characterized as a tenuous balance between economic modernization and political repression. This dichotomous political bargain yields a fragile legitimacy, aspects of which activate to shape Chinas Mekong River policies. This paper examines the impact of the CCPs fragile legitimacy on two case studies involving Chinas Mekong River economic interests, involving 1 hydropower dams and 2 counter-narcotics enforcement. Chinas hydroelectric pursuits on the Mekong are predominantly shaped by the regimes economic growth mandate, concerns about domestic inequality, and demands to alleviate social costs arising from recent development. Chinas counternarcotics efforts on the Mekong River are also tied to economic considerations, but increasingly reflect the Partys efforts to enhance its nationalist and security credentials. Chinas Mekong River policies illustrate how the CCPs domestic motivations deserve greater weight in explaining the perception of Chinas increasing assertiveness.

Descriptors:

• *CHINA
• *DRUG INTERDICTION
• *ECONOMICS
• *RIVERS
• CASE STUDIES
• DAMS
• DOMESTIC
• HYDROELECTRICITY
• IMPACT
• LAW ENFORCEMENT
• PERCEPTION
• POLICIES
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• SECURITY
• THESES

Subject Categories:

• Economics and Cost Analysis
• Government and Political Science
• Hydrology, Limnology and Potamology

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE