Asia, the world’s driest continent in terms of per capita freshwater availability, needs a rules-based system to manage water stress, maintain rapid economic growth, and ensure environmental sustainability. Yet China remains the stumbling block, refusing to enter into a water-sharing treaty with any neighbor – much less support a regional regulatory framework – because it wants to maintain its strategic grip on trans-boundary river flows.
以人均淡水量衡量，亚洲是全世界最干旱的大洲，它需要一个基于规则的体系来管理水压力，维持快速经济增长以及确保环境可持续性。但中国是当中一块绊脚石，拒绝与邻国签署水共享条约，对地区监管框架支持寥寥，因为它希望保持其对跨境河流的战略控制。