The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) hydropower and dam projects are increasingly leading to massive human rights violations and environmental damage in Tibet. Since Asia’s largest rivers originate in the Tibetan plateau, the construction of hydroelectric dams in Tibet also threatens the water supply, livelihoods, and health of up to 1.8 billion people across China, South, and Southeast Asia.
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Recognition of Tibet as a source of natural resources, such as minerals and water, is not new. The People’s Republic of China’s more than 70-year occupation of Tibet continues to inflict gross human rights violations on the Tibetan people, often directly linked to the exploitation of Tibet’s natural environment. Thus, the most essential investment the PRC must take to right the wrongs of its decades of resource plunder is to enter meaningful dialogue with Tibetan leaders to reach a political solution that also includes the Tibetan people’s right to decide the use of their natural wealth and resources freely. The most politically marginalized communities should not pay the highest price for China’s ambitious hydropower plan.
Perhaps the most prominent example of the People’s Republic of China’s exploitation is its accelerating construction of hydropower dams along Tibet’s major rivers. The integrity of these rivers is fundamental to Tibet’s rich environment and its unique civilization. Also, up to 1.8 billion people throughout China, South, and Southeast Asia depend on their healthy flow for subsistence, health, and economic development. China’s rampant, command-and-control hydropower plans put all this at peril.
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