China's Mekong River dams held back large amounts of water during a damaging drought in downstream countries last year despite China having higher-than-average water levels upstream, a U.S. research company said in a study.
China's government disputed the findings, saying there was low rainfall during last year's monsoon season on its portion of the 4,350-km (2,700-mile) river.
The findings by Eyes on Earth Inc., a research and consulting company specializing in water, published in a U.S.-government funded study, could complicate tricky discussions between China and other Mekong countries on how to manage the river that supports 60 million people as it flows past Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and through Cambodia and Vietnam.