When Chinese President Xi Jinping announced at the United Nations General Assembly in September that China would reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060, some environmental groups were concerned that Chinese officials would risk exploiting an energy sector with potentially even greater environmental consequences in order to reduce emissions. Indeed, last week, Chinese officials confirmed plans to build a hydroelectric power plant on the Brahmaputra River the size of three Three Gorges dams, making it clear that the announcement was intended to contribute to China’s 2060 commitment to carbon neutrality. In fact, international environmental groups have long warned that the construction of the Three Gorges Dam has depleted the upstream river’s water resources, and that the damming of the Brahmaputra, an international river flowing through China, India and Bangladesh, will affect the ecology of the downstream river, accelerate seawater intrusion in the Bangladesh Bay, and further intensify the Sino-Indian conflict over water resources.
According to official Chinese media reports, Chairman of China Power Construction Corporation (CPEC), Mr. Yan Zhiyong, confirmed Beijing’s plan for hydropower development on the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River at the 40th anniversary conference of the China Hydropower Engineering Society on November 26. He specifically emphasized that this was “implementation” and nothing more. This means that the Chinese government is likely to launch this major project in the next few years, according to the commentary.
The issue of hydropower development of the Brahmaputra, a river shared by China and India, has long been a sensitive one. There were rumors more than a decade ago that China was planning to build a dam on the Brahmaputra to divert its water into the Yellow River as a “South-North” water transfer project. “One of the major projects. It has been revealed that the then Indian Prime Minister Singh raised this issue with Chinese leaders during his visit to China in 2008. However, at the time, Chinese experts acknowledged the possibility of water transfers. Later, in 2009, Wang Shucheng, former Chinese Minister of Water Resources, stated in Beijing: “The Chinese government has no plan to transfer water from the Brahmaputra to the Yellow River.
A few days ago, an Indian politics and sociology professor published an article in the Indian Express titled “Himalayan ‘Water’ Bomb,” calling on all riparian countries to halt water construction on the Brahmaputra. The article warned that the construction of dams on the upper Brahmaputra would, first, reduce sedimentation in downstream rivers and reduce the fertility of downstream farmland; second, destroy biodiversity in the Brahmaputra valley; and third, pose a high risk of earthquakes because of the dams’ location on a plate with high crustal activity. In addition, the dam is likely to trigger a new round of conflict in the Sino-Indian geopolitical game.
The Hindustan Times reports that China claims clear ownership of Tibetan waters, including the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, and Yangtze, in addition to the Yangtze. Six rivers, including the Salween and the Mekong, originate in Tibet and flow through Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam, with 48% of their water flowing through India. In 2017, China stopped sharing data during the India-China border conflict in Sikkim, and although it resumed providing data in 2018 and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), there is widespread concern in India that China will share cross-border river data with China. “Weaponization”.
For India, China’s status as an upstream state on transboundary rivers is an inescapable but insurmountable challenge, according to a July report by Australia’s Lowy Institute for International Policy cited in the report. As the recent clashes in border areas between India and China have shown, India must assess how China can “weaponize” its advantage over countries downstream of transboundary rivers, where its domination of these rivers is sufficient to “choke” the Indian economy.
However, Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao cited an expert analysis that China’s construction of hydroelectric power plants may also play a misaligned regulatory role and bring positive effects to India, the future of the rivers may achieve a more stable year-round flow of water, downstream in the dry season may also have water available, “but the prerequisite is good Sino-Indian relations. This analysis by the Lianhe Zaobao confirms New Delhi’s concern that Beijing is holding the river hostage to India.
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