China begins building world's largest dam, fuelling fears in India

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🗞️ Driving the news: China has begun construction of what will become the world’s largest hydropower dam, the Motuo Hydropower Station, on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet
• Premier Li Qiang presided over the ceremony launching the $167 billion project, which aims to generate three times more electricity than the Three Gorges Dam
• The move has provoked sharp concerns from India and Bangladesh, who fear ecological damage, disruption to water flows, and potential geopolitical leverage by China over vital transboundary rivers

🔭 The context: The Yarlung Tsangpo originates in Tibet and flows into India as the Siang and Brahmaputra before reaching Bangladesh as the Jamuna
• Beijing has long pursued hydropower in Tibet under its “west-to-east” electricity policy to supply energy to eastern China
• While China asserts its legal right to dam the river, India and Bangladesh have repeatedly called for transparency, consultation, and safeguards for downstream communities
• The dam also reignites longstanding grievances over Chinese policies in Tibet, where protests against similar projects have been suppressed

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The dam underscores the trade-offs between renewable energy ambitions and ecological and social risks
• Hydropower is presented by Beijing as a clean energy source aligned with climate goals, but critics warn of biodiversity loss, seismic risks in an earthquake-prone region, and threats to millions of downstream livelihoods
• The project highlights the urgency of cooperative water governance as climate change intensifies competition over shared river basins

⏭️ What's next: The project is expected to proceed over several years, with the first of five cascading power stations under construction
• India is accelerating its own dam plans on the Siang as a buffer against potential Chinese water releases, while both India and Bangladesh have lodged formal concerns and seek further information
• Regional tensions over water security are likely to deepen unless new bilateral or multilateral mechanisms are established to manage transboundary water risks in a warming climate

💬 One quote: “This is going to cause an existential threat to our tribes and our livelihoods… China could even use this as a sort of ‘water bomb,’” warned Pema Khandu, Chief Minister of India’s Arunachal Pradesh state

📈 One stat: At full capacity, the Motuo project is expected to generate three times the electricity output of China’s current largest dam, the Three Gorges

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