The Mekong River Commission and its predecessors have never included PR China (which was not a member of the United Nations in 1957) or Burma (which does not significantly rely on or tap the Mekong), whose territory contains the upper Basin of the Mekong. Part of a joint initiative by the US agency for International Development (USAID) and NASA, SERVIR Mekong project, with five countries, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam including Myanmar which aims to tap into the latest technologies to help the Mekong River region protect its vital ecosystem. Although China contributes only 16–18 percent of the Mekong's overall water volume, the glacial melt waters of the Tibetan plateau take on increasing importance during the dry season. The ability of upstream nations to undermine downstream cooperation was perhaps best symbolized by an April 1995 ceremonial boat trip from Thailand to Vietnam—to celebrate the signing of the 1995 Agreement—which ran aground mid-river as a result of China filling the reservoir of the Manwan Dam. Although China and Burma became "dialogue partners" of the MRC in 1996 and slowly but steadily escalated their (non-binding) participation in its various forums, it is at present unthinkable that either would join the MRC in the near future.