Chinese dam projects raise alarm in Asia
Rivers in Asia that cross national borders are becoming a new source of confrontation among nations.
Water shortages will likely become even more severe due to economic development and global warming. That would make the water issue a major factor for Asia’s national security.
While 60 percent of the world’s population lives in Asia, it only has 36 percent of the available water resources on Earth.
One such river is the Brahmaputra, which flows from Tibet through India to Bangladesh.
Last October, an Indian newspaper carried a front page story that said China was constructing a dam upriver.
China has admitted to a plan to construct five dams, but officials insist there would be no effect on people living downriver because the dams would be for hydropower generation and water would be released on a regular basis.
However, Indian officials remain worried, fearing China could control the water flow depending on their own motives.
“China may be trying to divert the flow of the Brahmaputra to their own side,” said Ashok Jaitly, director of the Water Resources Division at the Energy and Resources Institute in India.
What he likely had in mind was China’s project to transport water from the south of the nation to northern regions that often face drought conditions.
While Beijing’s plan currently calls for diverting water from domestic rivers, there are hints of proposals that would take water from transnational rivers.
In a 2007 report, Britain’s Defense Ministry said conflicts over water resources could heighten the possibility of triggering military action or population migration, citing China’s possible move to change the course of the Brahmaputra River.
An official with China’s Foreign Ministry brushed off India’s concerns and said, “China is a responsible nation. It will not damage the interests of other nations.”
China and India have approved a memorandum to exchange water usage information during the rainy season.
However, Gautam Bambawale, who heads the East Asia Division at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said there will be a need for a rivers agreement to discuss development issues with China in the future.
Difficulties similar to those that concern China and India can also be found in Indochina.
This spring, the region was hit by a major drought, and the Mekong River had the lowest water levels ever observed over the past 50 years.
Nations along the banks of the Mekong suffered damage to their agricultural and fishing industries.
In Thailand and Vietnam, criticism was directed at the construction of dams upriver by China.
Jirasak Intayot, a member of an environmental nongovernmental organization, said, “This is not only due to low rainfall, but it is also because China’s dams have accumulated the water. The Thanlwin River, which also flows from Tibet, has a high water level because there are few dams along it.”
The Thanlwin is also known as the Salween River.
China plans to build 15 gigantic dams in Yunnan province upriver along the Mekong River.
The dams will have a total electric power generation capacity of 25 million kilowatts in 10 years time. That would exceed the capacity of the Three Gorges Dam, which is currently the world’s largest.
The Nuozhadu Dam, under construction in the city of Puer, will have a water storage capacity that is more than 30-fold that of Japan’s largest dam, the Tokuyama Dam in Gifu Prefecture.
It will have an electric power generation capacity of 5.5 million kilowatts, or the equivalent of five large nuclear power reactors.
Investigation, Analysis and Truth 