{"id":13560,"date":"2012-07-11T03:07:58","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T03:07:58","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-07-11T03:07:58","modified_gmt":"2012-07-11T03:07:58","slug":"Clinton-to-make-landmark-visit-to-Laos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=13560","title":{"rendered":"Clinton to make landmark visit to Laos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hillary Clinton will become the first US secretary of state to visit communist-run Laos in 57 years on a brief trip focusing on the legacy of the Vietnam War and a controversial dam project.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pointing to the historic nature of the trip, a senior US official said:<\/strong> “It’s a pretty big deal for the Laotians, and we will underscore a number of areas that we’re working on together.”<\/p>\n

These include left over ordnance from the war as well as the continuing effects of the defoliant Agent Orange<\/strong>, used by US forces to try to flush out the Vietnamese communist forces.<\/p>\n

But one of the main thrusts of the trip will be talks on controversial plans by Laos to build a massive dam on the Mekong River<\/strong>, which governments and environmentalists warn could have a devastating effect on millions of people.<\/p>\n

Clinton, who will arrive from a brief visit to Hanoi, will be only the second secretary of state to visit Laos after John Foster Dulles, who spent a day in the then-monarchy in 1955.<\/p>\n

She was invited to Laos by Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith in 2010 who was the first top Laotian official to visit Washington since the Soviet-backed communist rebels swept to power<\/strong>, ousting the monarchy, in 1975.<\/p>\n

The $3.8 billion hydroelectric project at Xayaburi, led by Thai group CH Karnchang, has sharply divided the four Mekong nations — Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand — who rely on the river system for fish and irrigation.<\/p>\n

State media said last week Laos has pledged to stall the construction of the dam until its neighbors’ environmental concerns have been answered.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Laos is one of the poorest nations in the world, with just 6.5 million people<\/strong>, and sees hydropower as vital to its potential future as the “battery of Southeast Asia”, selling electricity to its more industrialised neighbors.<\/p>\n

Source AP<\/em>
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