China's Foreign Ministry Responds to Thai Concerns Over Mining Pollution From Myanmar: Mao Ning Says She Is Not Aware of the Specifics and That Chinese Firms Are Always Required to Protect the Environment
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at the regular press conference on November 13, in response to a question, that she was not aware of the specific situation regarding mining activity in Myanmar polluting rivers flowing into Thailand. She said the Chinese government consistently requires enterprises to fulfil their social responsibility and strictly protect the environment, and that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Thailand and other Mekong countries on water resources and ecological-environment protection. Mao did not confirm any Chinese company's involvement, nor say that specific companies would be investigated.
The question concerned the Kok, Sai and Ruak rivers in northern Thailand, all Mekong tributaries flowing in from Myanmar. According to Thai officials and foreign reporting, on November 5 the Sai River at Mae Sai in Chiang Rai became so muddy that filters at a water-treatment plant could not cope and drinking-water supply was disrupted; arsenic in untreated water measured 0.3 mg/L, thirty times Thailand's surface-water standard.
Thailand suspects the pollution comes from upstream mining in Myanmar's Shan State, including rare-earth and other mineral extraction, and environmental groups allege Chinese companies operate diggings there. Myanmar mining official Myo Myint Thein said no mining concessions or operating permits had been granted in that area. The pollution-source claim remains a Thai suspicion and has not been established.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow raised the pollution of the three rivers in Naypyidaw on November 12 with President Min Aung Hlaing and Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe; Thailand and Myanmar agreed a Joint Working Group on Water Quality, with a first meeting expected in late November, and Thailand will seek permission to install monitoring equipment upstream inside Myanmar.
(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China)
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：泰国清莱府境内的湄公河支流公河（Kok River）（资料图）。照片 CC BY 4.0，作者 Vyacheslav Argenberg，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Kok River in Chiang Rai, Thailand, a Mekong tributary (file photo). CC BY 4.0, by Vyacheslav Argenberg, via Wikimedia Commons.
