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China begins building world’s largest dam, fuelling fears in India
Chinese authorities have begun constructing what will be the world’s largest hydropower dam in Tibetan territory, in a project that has sparked concerns from India and Bangladesh.
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 as well as multiple South Asian nations. 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 has said the development will prioritise ecological protection and boost local prosperity.
When completed, the $12bn yuan ($1.67bn; £1.25bn) 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 . external 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.”
India’s federal government has in the past expressed concerns to China about the impact of the dam on communities downriver. It also 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.
The Yarlung Tsangpo river courses through the Tibetan plateau [BBC]
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.
[BBC]
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a new set of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), this time targeting the entity itself, as opposed to the tribunal’s officials or groups that provide support.
The announcement on Friday represented a major escalation from the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has vowed an “all of government” approach to dismantling the court.
“We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us because our message is clear: the United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC,” Rubio said in a video posted on social media. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”
As justification for its actions, the administration has pointed to the court’s ongoing investigation into abuses committed in Afghanistan, which could ensnare US military and intelligence personnel, as well as the ICC’s arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes committed in Gaza.
Before Friday’s actions, the US had sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors, a UN special rapporteur focusing on the occupied Palestinian territories and Palestinian rights groups that have provided evidence to the court.
Several rights groups have challenged those sanctions in US federal court, saying restricting how US citizens interact with the court treads on their constitutional freedoms. Sanctioned ICC judges have also launched legal challenges in the US.
[Aljazeera]
United States President Donald Trump said that Russia has agreed to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to global markets amid discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The president added that Russia would deliver an additional 3 million tonnes of fuel “within a short period of time”. He said that the country would supply 500,000 tonnes in November.
An envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, praised cooperation between Russia and the United States on diesel and energy in a post on X shortly after.
“Russia-US cooperation on diesel and energy will benefit the world,” Dmitriev wrote on X.
Petrol price pressures
The deal comes despite Ukrainian air strikes, which have taken more than half of the country’s oil refining capacity offline, according to claims made by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence on Sunday.
The latest announcement comes a week after the G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels amid pressure from the White House.
Diesel prices have been elevated in recent months but have started to decline. The average price for a gallon is $6.27 ($1.66 per litre), according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. That’s down $0.10 from this time last week, but up $5.94 from this time one month ago.
[Aljazeera]
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake has hit southern Panama, triggering tsunami warnings across Central and South America.
The US National Weather Service issued tsunami warnings for Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Guatemala on Friday following the quake.
Chile’s naval Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service also issued a tsunami warning.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centred about 10km (6 miles) southwest of the remote community of Pitaloza Arriba along the Pacific Ocean coast.
Residents of Panama City reported feeling tremors, with buildings shaking and people evacuating into the streets.
“We felt it very strongly. It knocked things over in the kitchen, but we’re okay, though we’re very scared,” 60-year-old Rosendo Dominguez, who is from Herrera province, where the earthquake struck, told The Associated Press news agency by phone.
“Everyone is outside, scared,” Dominguez added.
Videos shared by newspaper La Prensa showed the tower of a historic building had collapsed along with several balconies of a residential building in Penonome, a city about halfway between the epicenter and Panama City.
Panama’s ministry of education ordered schools closed.
There have been several destructive earthquakes in the region this year.
In June, twin quakes hit northern Venezuela, causing widespread devastation and killing at least 6,500 people.
In August, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake hit Colombia, killing at least 289 people.
[Aljazwwea]
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