China begins building world's largest dam, fuelling fears in India
Chinese Premier Li Qiang presided over a ceremony marking the start of construction on the Yarlung Tsangpo river on Saturday, according to local media.
The river flows through the Tibetan plateau. The project has attracted criticism for its potential impact on millions of Indians and Bangladeshis living downriver, as well as the surrounding environment and local Tibetans.
Beijing says the scheme, costing an estimated 1.2tn yuan ($167bn; £125bn), will prioritise ecological protection and boost local prosperity.
When completed, the project - also known as the Motuo Hydropower Station - will overtake the Three Gorges dam as the world's largest, and could generate three times more energy.
Experts and officials have flagged concerns that the new dam would empower China to control or divert the trans-border Yarlung Tsangpo, which flows south into India's Arunachal Pradesh and Assam states as well as Bangladesh, where it feeds into the Siang, Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers.
A 2020 report published by the Lowy Institute, an Australian-based think tank, noted that "control over these rivers [in the Tibetan Plateau] effectively gives China a chokehold on India's economy".
In an interview with news agency PTI earlier this month, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu expressed concern that the Siang and Brahmaputra could "dry up considerably" once the dam was completed.
He added that the dam was "going to cause an existential threat to our tribes and our livelihoods. It is quite serious because China could even use this as a sort of 'water bomb'".
"Suppose the dam is built and they suddenly release water, our entire Siang belt would be destroyed," he said. "In particular, the Adi tribe and similar groups... would see all their property, land, and especially human life, suffer devastating effects."
In January a spokesperson for India's ministry of external affairs said they had expressed concerns to China about the impact of mega-dams and had urged Beijing to "ensure the interests of downstream states" were not harmed. They had also emphasised the "need for transparency and consultation with downstream countries".
India plans to build a hydropower dam on the Siang river, which would act as a buffer against sudden water releases from China's dam and prevent flooding in their areas.
China's foreign ministry has previously responded to India, saying in 2020 that China has a "legitimate right" to dam the river and has considered downstream impacts.
Bangladesh also expressed concerns to China about the project, with officials in February sending a letter to Beijing requesting more information on the dam.
Chinese authorities have long eyed the hydropower potential of the dam's location in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
It's in a massive canyon that is said to be the world's deepest and longest on land, along a section where the Yarlung Tsangpo - Tibet's longest river - makes a sharp U-turn around the Namcha Barwa mountain.
In the process of making this turn - which has been termed "the Great Bend" - the river drops hundreds of metres in its elevation.
Earlier reports indicated that authorities planned to drill multiple 20km-long tunnels through the Namcha Barwa mountain, via which they would divert part of the river.
Over the weekend a Xinhua report on Li Qiang's visit said that engineers would conduct "straightening" work and "divert water through tunnels" to build five cascading power stations.
Xinhua also reported that the hydropower dam's electricity would be mainly transmitted out of the region to be used elsewhere, while accommodating for Tibet's needs.
China has been eyeing the steep valleys and mighty rivers in the rural west - where Tibetan territories are located - to build mega-dams and hydropower stations that can sustain the country's electricity-hungry eastern metropolises. President Xi Jinping has personally pushed for this in a policy called "xidiandongsong", or "sending western electricity eastwards".
The Chinese government and state media have presented these dams as a win-win solution that cuts pollution and generates clean energy while uplifting rural Tibetans.
But activists say the dams are the latest example of Beijing's exploitation of Tibetans and their land - and past protests have been crushed.
Last year, the Chinese government rounded up hundreds of Tibetans who had been protesting against another hydropower dam. It ended in arrests and beatings, with some people seriously injured, the BBC learned through sources and verified footage.
There are also environmental concerns over the flooding of Tibetan valleys renowned for their biodiversity, and the possible dangers of building dams in a region rife with earthquake fault lines.
CORRECTION 21 July 2025: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the estimated cost of the dam was $1.67bn.
A dam ignited rare Tibetan protests. They ended in beatings and arrests, BBC finds
Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's trade remarks: 3 takeaways ahead of China negotiations
President Trump says a China trade deal is taking shape ahead of next week's talks in Sweden. Asia Society Policy Institute vice president Wendy Cutler and Yahoo Finance Washington Correspondent Ben Werschkul discuss what the US may be pushing for and how upcoming tariff deadlines could shift. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Catalysts here. President Trump gave more details Friday about the state of trade negotiations. He said the US is nearing a trade deal with China and offered a range of messages on other nations facing his August 1st deadline. Trump's comments coming as US and Chinese negotiators are set to meet in Sweden next week. Joining us now, Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and Yahoo Finance's Washington correspondent Ben Worshko. Um Ben, let's start with you. Give us the latest here on some of these comments that we heard from President Trump today. Yeah. So, this morning as President Trump headed for Scotland, he did about a 30-minute gaggle with reporters talking about a wide array of topics. On the financial side of this, which was one piece of this, there was kind of a mixed bag here for in terms of, in terms of of trade updates. The first one was kind of some tough words about the current talks. Um, he talked about these are the countries facing an August 1st deadline. He described the chances of making an EU a deal with the EU is not certain. At one point he described it as 50/50, at another point he described it a little better than that, but it's clear that there's a ways to go on that front, which is, which is of course, as a block, is America's largest trading partner. He talked, he had some negative words about Canada saying that the outcome with Canada on August 1st could be a tariff and not any more negotiations there. What he previously promised was a 35% tariff on Canada, our northern neighbor. And he also talked about more tariffs, uh, tariff letters coming next week. This is where he basically just dictates rates. I might take that with a grain of salt considering these are the final stages of negotiations and we're seeing a lot of negotiations from both sides including from the EU side about what happens if no deal is there, but some negative words there. Where it was a little more mixed was on China. This is, this is another big focus of trade this week, or next week with Trump's teams set headed to Sweden to meet with Chinese officials. Trump describes that having the confines of a deal, but he didn't have any more details on what that meant. He's previously described a 90-day pause as a deal, quote deal. So it could just be a reference to that, but we'll see if that emerges to anything more there. One area with the China talks that jumped out of me this morning was Trump was asked about currency and had a lot of words there. I wrote about this this week about how the weakening dollar is a real sort of challenge and it is sort of dividing the Trump administration in terms of there's benefits of a weaker dollar for trade, and there's also disadvantages. Trump said that China, all they do is fight for a weaker currency, so that's clearly an issue for him in these China talks. We'll see if that comes up um, more. And then one final positive note from the president this morning was a lot of positive words for Jerome Powell. This came after his his high profile visit to the Fed last uh yesterday. He talked about how Powell's a very good man and even hinted that he thinks, we'll see if this happens, that Powell is going to look towards lowering rates as soon as next week, at least advocating for that if not actually lowering them. Yeah. We'll we'll see about that part. But let's talk more about the potential China deal. Wendy, I want to bring you in on this. What should we be watching for on this China deal? What developments do you think could come next week? So, again, next week is really, in my view, more of the launch of the China negotiations, right? It's taken us two or so months to make sure the deal that was reached in Geneva held up, particularly with respect to critical minerals. So I think when Beths and takes his team over and meets with China, it will all be all about trying to come up with a deal that could be announced during a potential Trump-Xi meeting um, around um, the APEC meeting, come late October. Interesting. What what would you want to see out of that deal, or what would you expect to see out of that deal when it comes that would be sort of most favorable to the US? Well, look, I think the president is going to be pushing for big purchases. We've seen that in other deals that have been announced so far. We've seen that during his first term and so I think that would be a feature that will be worked on. The Secretary of Treasury has also mentioned his concerns about Chinese exports of excess capacity goods. So I think that's another critical area that needs to be addressed. And look, there are a whole host of non-tariff measures, um and tariff measures that also could be on the table as well. Related Videos Trump Is on the Mind of the FOMC, Goldman's Kaplan Says Trump Says Powell May Be Ready to Recommend Lower Rates Trump Puts Odds of EU Trade Deal at 50-50 S&P 500 fresh record high, Trump & Powell, Intel: 3 Things Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
India Trade Pact Nears, US Beef Floods In--What Investors Should Watch Next
Australia may be on the brink of deepening its trade ties with India, according to Trade Minister Don Farrell, who suggested a broader free trade deal could have been inked months ago if not for a timing clash with the May election. Speaking at the Lowy Institute, Farrell hinted that the delay was procedural, not political, and noted that his Indian counterpart is currently focused on high-stakes tariff talks with President Donald Trump's administration. The existing FTAsigned back in April 2022cut tariffs across most sectors, but left out sensitive Australian exports like chickpeas, dairy, and wheat. Farrell expects those gaps could be closed bit by bit, as part of a multi-stage rollout. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with TSN. That optimism is surfacing just as India finalizes a major agreement with the UK and bilateral trade with Australia hits nearly A$50 billion ($32.9 billion) in 2023. Farrell said the structure of a final deal with India is likely to be incremental, owing to political realities on both sides. Still, with Canberra actively seeking to diversify away from Chinaits top trading partnera more comprehensive agreement with India could be a meaningful next step. For investors eyeing agri-exporters, particularly in grains and dairy, the next phase of negotiations could shape longer-term access to one of the world's fastest-growing consumer markets. In a separate move with potential ripple effects, Australia just lifted all remaining restrictions on US beef importsa long-standing ask from the Trump administration. The announcement triggered a celebratory post from President Trump on TruthSocial, but Farrell was quick to tamp down the political narrative, stating the decision was based on science and years of internal review. We haven't done this to win favorwe think the Americans should trade with us anyway, he said. Whether this opens the door to a broader trade pact with the US remains to be seen, but the development is unlikely to go unnoticed by investors in US meat giants like Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) or Brazil's JBS, both of which could stand to benefit from expanded market access. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Hong Kong police offer rewards for tips leading to the arrest of 19 overseas activists
Advertisement According to a Facebook statement by the group on June 30, its election drew some 15,700 valid votes through mobile app and online voting systems. It said the candidates and elected members came from various regions, including Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, the US, Canada, and Britain. While the group calls itself Hong Kong Parliament, its electoral organizing committee was founded in Canada and its influence is limited. Among the 19 activists, police have already offered 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($127,400) for information leading to the arrest of Yuen, Ho, Fok, and Choi when previous arrest warrants were issued against them. For the remaining 15 people, rewards of 200,000 Hong Kong dollars ($25,480) were offered, urging residents to provide information about the case or the people. Advertisement 'The investigation is still ongoing. If necessary, police will offer bounties to hunt down more suspects in the case,' police said. They also called on those wanted to stop their actions while they still can, saying that they hoped the activists 'will take this opportunity to return to Hong Kong and turn themselves in, rather than making more mistakes.' Yuen said in a Facebook live broadcast that the election was not quite successful in drawing active participation, and that the police campaign would help the group rally support for the resistance movement. 'It helps us with a lot of advertising,' Yuen said. During the live chat with Yuen on Facebook, Sasha Gong, another person targeted by the bounties, accused Hong Kong of becoming a police state. She said she is US citizen and would report her case to the US authorities and lawmakers. Over the past two years, Hong Kong authorities have issued arrest warrants for various activists based overseas, including former pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law and Ted Hui. They also canceled the passports of some of them under a recent security law introduced in the city last year. The moves against overseas-based activists have drawn criticism from foreign governments, especially given the former British colony was promised that its Western-style civil liberties and semi-autonomy would be kept intact for at least 50 years when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. In March, the United States sanctioned six Chinese and Hong Kong officials who it alleged were involved in 'transnational repression' and acts that threaten to further erode the city's autonomy. But Beijing and Hong Kong insist the national security laws were necessary for the city's stability. Hong Kong police have maintained that the Beijing-imposed law applies to permanent residents in Hong Kong who violate it abroad. Advertisement In retaliation for the US move, China in April said it would sanction US officials, lawmakers, and leaders of non-governmental organizations who it says have 'performed poorly' on Hong Kong issues.
