On the morning of January 26, three Chinese law-enforcement boats departed from Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna — from the Jingha and Guanlei police piers — to begin the 161st China-Laos-Myanmar-Thailand joint patrol of the Mekong River. The synchronized launch marks the formal start of the multilateral river patrols for 2026, with Lao, Myanmar and Thai units heading from their respective ports to join the Chinese flotilla at prearranged riverine rendezvous.
The operation combines segmented patrols with focused joint patrols in sensitive stretches of the Mekong, with two Lao vessels and one Myanmar vessel setting off from Bansangkuo, Mengmo and Wanbeng respectively. Before the exercise, commanders from the four countries met in Jinghong to share information on the security situation in the basin, review recent enforcement results and agree on the operational plan, underscoring the routinized, cooperative rhythm of these missions.
These joint patrols have become an institutionalized response to cross-border crimes on the Mekong — including trafficking, smuggling and illegal fishing — as well as a tool for maintaining order in a waterway that is economically central to millions. For China, steady patrols through Yunnan are both a practical effort to secure a porous frontier and a demonstration of cooperative governance in a region where Beijing has growing economic and strategic stakes.
The 161st patrol highlights a pragmatic seam of cooperation among four governments with differing domestic politics and priorities. While such operations can reduce criminality and bolster short-term stability, they also raise longer-run questions about river governance, transparency of enforcement activities, and how security cooperation with Myanmar’s authorities will be viewed by other regional partners. Still, for communities and trade along the Mekong, these routines of joint patrols are likely to remain an important element of maintaining navigable, safer waterways in 2026.