BLOG
The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Release Of Mekong Waters Reflects An Environmental Crisis
March 24th, 2016
Via Eurasia Review, a report on growing controversy over China’s release of Mekong River waters from its dams in March: Tributaries of the Mekong River. China would like to project the release of Mekong River waters from its dams in March to “assist” drought-stricken farmers and fisheries further downstream, especially in Vietnam, as a magnanimous gesture […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China Plans More Dams In Tibet
March 23rd, 2016
Via Third Pole, a look at China’s new Five Year Plan which calls for a fresh wave of hydropower and major infrastructure projects on a Tibetan plateau already hit by desertification and climate change: China’s just-released 13th Five Year Plan — which sets out the country’s economic and social blueprint — promises to be the greenest […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Dam Boom Stokes Concerns In Asia
March 16th, 2016
Via Nikkei Asian Review, some interesting commentary on the concerns arising in Asia that China is seeking to turn water into a potential political weapon: China’s centralized, megaprojects-driven approach to water resources is the antithesis of the situation in another demographic titan, India, where the constitution makes water an issue for state governments and where […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: Geopolitics of India and China’s Shared Water Sources
March 15th, 2016
Via Future Directions International, an interesting look at the geopolitics of India and China’s shared water sources: Key Points China and India are water-scarce countries that will face significant challenges to food and water security in the future. As lower riparians, India and Bangladesh rely on the Brahmaputra River for water, agriculture and livelihoods. Upstream, China […]
Read more »Mekong: Can One Of The World’s Great Rivers Survive Its Development?
March 2nd, 2016
Via The Economist, a series of three articles on the Mekong River. The first looks at GUO, the driver, pulls his car to a merciful halt high above a crevasse: time for a cigarette, and after seven hours of shuddering along narrow, twisting roads, time for his passengers to check that their fillings remain in place. Lighting […]
Read more »The Indus Inland Waterways System: The Next Big Thing For Asia?
February 29th, 2016
Courtesy of The Third Pole, an interesting report on the potential for a new Indus waterways transport system to revolutionise the economies of South Asia: There are few river systems in the world as long and as reliable as the Indus. The river and its tributaries connect most major cities of Pakistan with each other and […]
Read more »