File photo of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning
| Photo Credit: AP

China on Friday (December 27, 2024) defended its plan to build the world’s largest dam on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, saying the project will not “negatively affect” lower riparian states and that safety issues have been addressed through decades of studies.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning played down apprehensions about the massive project to dam the Brahmaputra river, which is called Yarlung Zangbo in Tibet. The project estimated to cost around ₹137 billion is located in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region, along a tectonic plate boundary where earthquakes occur frequently.

Ms. Mao said China carried out in-depth studies for decades and took safeguard measures.

China has always been responsible for the development of cross-border rivers, Ms. Mao told a media briefing here in response to a question on the concerns related to the dam.

She said the hydropower development there has been studied in depth for decades, and safeguard measures have been taken to ensure the project’s security and ecological environment protection.

“The project will not negatively affect the lower reaches,” she said referring to the concerns in India and Bangladesh which are the lower riparian states.

“China will continue to maintain communication with countries at the lower reaches through existing channels and step up cooperation on disaster prevention and relief for the benefit of the people by the river,” she said.

She said China’s hydropower development in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo river aims to speed up the development of clean energy and respond to climate change and extreme hydrological disasters.

China on Wednesday approved the construction of the world’s largest dam, stated to be the planet’s biggest infra project, on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet close to the Indian border, raising concerns in India and Bangladesh.

The hydropower project will be built in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo river, the Tibetan name for the Brahmaputra, an official statement here said.

The dam will be built at a huge gorge in the Himalayan reaches where the Brahmaputra river makes a huge U-turn to flow into Arunachal Pradesh and then to Bangladesh.

Ms. Mao said China’s hydropower development in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo river aims to speed up the development of clean energy and respond to climate change and extreme hydrological disasters.

The total investment in the dam could exceed one trillion yuan ($137 billion), which would dwarf any other single infrastructure project on the planet, including China’s own Three Gorges Dam which is regarded as the largest in the world, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.

China has already operationalised the $1.5 billion Zam Hydropower Station, the largest in Tibet in 2015.

The Brahmaputra dam was part of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035 adopted by Plenum, a key policy body of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2020.

Concerns arose in India as the dam besides empowering China to control the water flow could enable Beijing to release large amounts of water flooding border areas in times of hostilities because of its size and scale.

India too is building a dam over Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh.

India and China established the Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) in 2006 to discuss various issues related to trans-border rivers under which China provides India with hydrological information on the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers during the flood seasons.

Data sharing of trans-border rivers figured in the talks between India, China Special Representatives (SRs) for border questions which National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held here on December 18.

The SRs provided positive directions for cross-border cooperation and exchanges including data sharing on trans-border rivers, a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The Brahmaputra dam presents enormous engineering challenges as the project site is located along a tectonic plate boundary where earthquakes occur.

The Tibetan plateau, regarded as the roof of the world, frequently experiences earthquakes as it is located over the tectonic plates.

Beijing has announced that it will impose visa restrictions on US officials who have “interfered” in Hong Kong affairs. This move comes after Washington said it would impose visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials last month.

According to Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, the US has “violently interfered in China’s internal affairs” by imposing visa restrictions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong issues.

Mao stated that China has decided to impose visa restrictions on US officials who have performed poorly on Hong Kong-related issues. The move is based on China’s foreign relations law and a law on countering foreign sanctions.

Mao emphasised that Hong Kong is a part of China and that Hong Kong affairs are China’s internal matters.

“I shall emphasise that Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong, and Hong Kong affairs are purely China’s internal matters,” Mao said. “We urge the US side to genuinely respect China’s sovereignty, respect the rule of law in Hong Kong, and stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any way.”

The US had previously announced that it would impose visa restrictions on Hong Kong officials after 45 pro-democracy advocates were sentenced to prison in November. The sentences ranged from four years and two months to 10 years.

“The 45 defendants sentenced today were aggressively prosecuted, and many now face life-altering imprisonment simply for their peaceful participation in political activities which are protected under the Basic Law of Hong Kong,” US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said after the sentencing hearing.

The Hong Kong government condemned the US move, saying that foreign governments and organisations had “turned a blind eye to the facts” and made “exaggerated remarks” about the landmark case.
 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. File
| Photo Credit: AP

“China firmly opposes any country allowing the Dalai Lama to make visits under any pretext,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday (August 22, 2024.)

Senior officials from the U.S. State Department and the White House met with the Dalai Lama in New York on Wednesday (August 21, 2024) and “reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to advancing the human rights of Tibetans,” the State Department said.

The meeting with the 89-year-old exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism was expected to roil China, which considers him a dangerous separatist and opposes contact with him by officials of any country.

“China has made solemn protests with the U.S.”, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at a regular press briefing. “We don’t allow the Dalai Lama to engage in political separatist activities in the U.S.”

Last month, China expressed strong opposition to a U.S. law signed by President Joe Biden that presses Beijing to resolve a dispute over Tibet’s demands for greater autonomy, and vowed to “firmly defend” its interests.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the “appointment of a so-called special coordinator of Tibetan issues constitutes interference in internal affairs.”