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The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: China’s Tibetan Mega-Dam Is Veiled in Secrecy
October 11th, 2025
Via Foreign Policy, a look at the veil of secrecy surrounding China’s Tibetan mega-dam: When Wen visited the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in the spring of 2025, the independent Chinese ecologist saw numerous heavy trucks loaded with construction materials along Medog county in the southeastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Only a single, narrow […]
Read more »Thirsty Dragon vs. Parched Tiger: India Plans Its Own Mega Dam To Counter China Water Fears
September 30th, 2025
Via The Frontier Post, a report on Indian plans to build its own mega dam to counter China water fears: On a football field ringed by misty mountains, the air rang with fiery speeches as tribesmen protested a planned mega-dam — India’s latest move in its contest with China over Himalayan water. India says the […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Himalayan Mega-Dam Is A Global Threat
September 20th, 2025
Via Nikkei Asia, commentary on China’s planned Himalayan mega-dam – the largest dam ever conceived – symbolizes China’s bid, from oil to water, for 21st-century dominance: China is about to upend the world’s hydrological balance — with consequences as far-reaching as climate change itself. Its $168 billion Himalayan super-dam represents not merely the world’s costliest […]
Read more »China’s Himalayan Megadam Poses A Global Threat. Why No International Outrage?
September 2nd, 2025
Via Stagecraft and Statecraft, commentary on how the world ignored warnings about the Three Gorges Dam until it became an environmental nightmare. It cannot afford to repeat that mistake with China’s super-dam near the Indian border — a project whose ecological fallout will ripple globally. Last month, China officially acknowledged that it is constructing the world’s largest […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: The Engineering Marvel That China Hopes Will Help Wean It Off Foreign Energy
August 11th, 2025
Via the Wall Street Journal, a report on a planned $167 billion power project which promotes Chinese self-sufficiency while unsettling neighbors: China has begun the construction of a giant hydropower project at the earthquake-prone edge of the Tibetan plateau, a spectacular engineering feat that is central to Beijing’s enduring mission to become self-sufficient in critical areas […]
Read more »Yarlung Zangbo Dam: The Dawn of Zero-Sum Water Politics in South Asia
August 11th, 2025
Via Geopolitical Monitor, a look at the Yarlung Zangbo Dam and the dawn of zero-sum water politics in South Asia: The Yarlung Zangbo dam project represents a watershed moment in China’s emergence as a hydro-hegemon capable of manipulating water flows across multiple international boundaries for its own strategic advantage. While Beijing frames the initiative as part […]
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