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The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Mekong Plans Threaten Disaster for Countries Downstream
September 27th, 2017
Via Foreign Policy, a report on how Beijing is building hydroelectric dams and dredging to allow bigger boats as worries of environmental devastation grow: Thirty million people depend for a living on the Mekong, the great Asian river that runs through Southeast Asia from its origins in the snowfields of Tibet to its end in […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Will China’s Silk Road Strategy Threaten The Tarim Basin Once Again?
September 24th, 2017
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), an interesting analysis of how Beijing’s crucial Belt and Road Initiative could jeopardize the Tarim basin’s nascent hydro recovery: The tale of the Silk Road is one of intrigue, war and cities lost. But within this complex and quixotic tableau, it is the story of China’s Tarim Basin that best echoes the […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: China and India Water ‘Dispute’ After Border Stand-Off
September 19th, 2017
Via the BBC, a report on an emerging dispute between China and India over water: China and India may have defused a potential border conflict but the stand-off seems to have led to dispute over another contentious issue: water. Delhi says it has not received any hydrological – the scientific study of the movement, distribution […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Is China Weaponizing Water?
August 26th, 2017
Via National Interest, commentary on China’s strategic interest in water: Hidden in plain sight is an intimidating Chinese weapon that allows it to hold a quarter of the world’s population hostage without firing a single shot. While much attention has been given to the nation’s fearsome new military hardware, a formidable component in its arsenal […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: Is China Waging A Water War On India Through Data?
August 21st, 2017
Via the Hindustan Times, a look at how Beijing is fashioning water into a political weapon by denying India flood-related hydrological data since May, even as major flooding has hit the region from Assam to Uttar Pradesh: Tibet, a treasure-trove of natural resources, including water and precious metals, is a great strategic asset for China in […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Groundwater Crisis
August 18th, 2017
Via Asia & The Pacific Policy Forum, a look at China’s groundwater crisis: Two of the world’s most densely populated regions, northern India and northern China, are experiencing high levels of groundwater depletion, according to a 2015 study sponsored by NASA. For these and many other highly stressed aquifers, natural replenishment through precipitation is unable to offset […]
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