Japan courts leaders from Mekong River region

HANOI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - A jostle for influence in Southeast Asia's
emerging Mekong River region moves up a notch this week when Japan
hosts leaders from five countries where China and other players have
ramped up aid and investment.

The two-day event in Tokyo will focus on sustainable development and
climate change in a region that includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam.

The Mekong River snakes through a last frontier of emerging Asia,
scarred by war and anti-colonial struggles, a region viewed as
strategic for its proximity to shipping lanes and abundant natural
resources.

In recent decades, Tokyo has been the biggest outside source of aid to
the sub-region, whose combined population exceeds 220 million and with
a total GDP of more than $400 billion. Japanese companies were also
among the earliest foreign investors.

But China's global quest for resources, and its outward investment
drive of the past decade or so, have enlarged its presence in
Southeast Asia.

"The Japanese realise -- they've realised for a long time -- that they
are just being totally outmanoeuvred by the Chinese," said Richard
Cronin, Director of the Southeast Asia programme at the Henry L.
Stimson Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

One of the world's major river systems, the Mekong starts in the
Tibetan plateau and runs 4,800 km through China and Southeast Asia.
China will not be present at the summit.

DEVELOPING HYDROPOWER

The summit will discuss promoting development, while tackling
environment and climate change, cross-border problems such as
infectious disease, and promoting tourism, a Japanese Foreign Ministry
official told reporters on Wednesday.

He downplayed the notion of competition. "We don't need to compete
with others. If the region is developed, it will be beneficial to them
as well as to us."

Japan's new government has been keen to tackle climate change issues
and at a meeting of Japan-Mekong foreign ministers last month, they
discussed developing hydropower in a way that would protect the
environment and biodiversity.

Scientists say a cascade of dams on the upper Mekong in China and
further downstream, some being funded by China, threaten to alter the
waterway that directly sustains some 60 million people through
agriculture and fishing.

Since the early 1990s, Japan has led the way in funding the Asian
Development Bank's (ADB) Greater Mekong sub-region programme, which
has built roads and other infrastructure. This, analysts say, has laid
the groundwork for cross-border economic corridors linking the
capitals and major cities.

Lately, China has gotten into the act. In Cambodia, for instance,
Japan remains the biggest donor but China has become the largest
foreign investor. Prime Minister Hun Sen recently hailed China as his
country's best friend.

Chinese companies have been investing aggressively in Laos and
Myanmar, as well, building dams, harvesting timber, and participating
in mining projects. It is the third biggest investor in Laos and the
fourth in Myanmar, Xinhua reported.

Chinese government aid generally has come without strings attached,
making it an attractive choice for some governments in the region,
analysts say.

Beyond the economics, Cronin believes "it's about the issue of Asian
regionalism. Is it a real thing? Is it going to happen? And if it
happens, who is going to be in charge of it, or who's got the
advantage?"