The Chinese Communist Party held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project in Nyingchi City, Tibet Autonomous Region, today (19th). The Yalong River Group of China had been established in Beijing earlier. The Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project downstream has sparked controversy since its public announcement over four years ago, with some hydraulic experts pointing out it as an illegal project. The project also involves disputes between China, India, and Bangladesh.
According to a report by the official Chinese state media Xinhua on July 19th, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project downstream was held this morning at the Milin Hydropower Station site in Nyingchi City, Tibet Autonomous Region. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee and the State Council, attended the ceremony and announced the official commencement of the project.
The report stated that representatives from the National Development and Reform Commission of the Communist Party of China, the project owner China Yalong Group, representatives from China Energy Construction, and senior officials from the Tibet Autonomous Region delivered speeches.
The report also mentioned that the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project downstream mainly adopts the development method of cutting bends and taking straight paths, tunneling water diversion, constructing 5 cascade power stations, with a total investment of about 1.2 trillion yuan. The project prioritizes power transmission for export while also meeting the local demand for power in Tibet.
On the same day, official media reported that China Yalong Group Co., Ltd. was established in Beijing recently, and Politburo member of the Communist Party and Vice Premier of the State Council, Zhang Guoqing, attended and unveiled the establishment of the company.
The National People’s Congress of China announced in March 2021 the construction of a “super dam” on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet, at the China-India border. Xinhua News Agency disclosed on December 25, 2024, that the Chinese government had approved the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project downstream.
Previously, Reuters reported that China Energy Construction Company estimated in 2020 that after the completion of the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project, the annual power generation would reach 300 billion kilowatt-hours, three times the annual power generation capacity of the Three Gorges Dam.
Human rights organizations warned that these dams will completely change the natural landscape of Tibet, disrupt the ecosystem, and displace local residents.
In 2021, Wang Weiluo, a Chinese hydraulic expert in Germany, questioned the legality of the large-scale development of the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project downstream in an article published in “Yibao.” He argued that the construction of the project in the core area of the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon violates China’s National Nature Reserve Regulations and should be stopped immediately.
Wang Weiluo listed the illegal facts: the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower development project is located in the core area of the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, which is a national-level nature reserve. According to Article 32 of China’s National Nature Reserve Regulations, “no production facilities shall be built in the core and buffer zones of the nature reserve.” Building a hydropower project with a three times larger installed capacity than the Three Gorges Dam in the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon violates this regulation.
Wang Weiluo also wrote in Radio France Internationale criticizing that the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project constructed by the Chinese Communist Party is a product of extreme nationalism, aiming to maintain China’s position as the world’s number one in hydroelectric projects.
The Yarlung Tsangpo River is the longest river in Tibet, flowing through India and Bangladesh after leaving the Chinese border, respectively known as the Brahmaputra River and the Jamuna River. India and Bangladesh have long been concerned that the Yarlung Tsangpo River hydropower project may alter the downstream river flow and channel, exacerbating regional water resource tensions, and have expressed opposition to the Chinese government.
In 2023, Indian geopolitical and strategic expert Brahma Chellaney wrote in the “Nikkei Asian Review” accusing that the site of this super dam is located in the earthquake-prone southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is on the fault zone of the collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate, belonging to the “world’s most dangerous zone.” Combined with the low transparency of the dam project, India downstream is very nervous, fearing that this unpredictable water bomb may cause irreparable disasters.
Chellaney also criticized that even without earthquakes, flash floods during the monsoon season could threaten downstream residents of the dam. The construction of the super dam by China is tantamount to “using neighbors as a ditch,” pushing difficulties and disasters onto others’ countries.
In India, the Yarlung Tsangpo River is known as the Brahmaputra River, which flows through the state of Arunachal Pradesh. India and China have disputes over this border region. The Washington Post reported that the start of this project could reignite the border dispute between China and India.
Commentator in the United States, Tang Jingyuan, previously told The Epoch Times that the Chinese Communist Party insists on building this large hydropower station primarily due to its massive energy demand gap; secondly, the Communist Party has significant political and geopolitical intentions. Once this hydropower station is completed, it will serve as a deterrent to India. Furthermore, the Communist Party is attempting to boost the sluggish economy by investing on a large scale in infrastructure to make China’s GDP figures look better.
However, Tang Jingyuan believes this is a double-edged sword and may lead to a rapid increase in local debt. At the same time, the long-term damage to the local ecological environment from the project will be irreparable, including the harm to residents brought by migration, similar to the mode of killing the chicken to get the eggs as seen in the construction of the Three Gorges Dam years ago.