New research show that Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low levels of water in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Last night was a big night in the household. Two, three and four spent the night outside in a tent by themselves. It was a bit cold and I was surprised that they did not sneak in in the middle of the night. The youngest is 5, I think she showed some pretty unbelievable bravery. On to warfare…
I saw this article on Friday and wanted to get it in-front of you on a separate post. With everything going on in relation to the corona-virus I want to believe that China has not done this to the rest of the world on purpose. Then I read a story like this and it only corroborates the worst of that regime. I have a separate post coming later this week on Thursday about how and why they are flooding the U.S. with cheap drugs. It really could be that they are already fighting a multi-dimensional war with the world whether we want to admit it or not.
In this report from The New York Times, Hannah Beech brings you the story about how China is controlling the flow of water across the Mekong River region bringing about the worst drought in living memory.
But new research from American climatologists shows for the first time that China, where the headwaters of the Mekong spring forth from the Tibetan Plateau, was not experiencing the same hardship at all. Instead, Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low water levels by limiting the river’s flow.
“The satellite data doesn’t lie, and there was plenty of water in the Tibetan Plateau, even as countries like Cambodia and Thailand were under extreme duress,” said Alan Basist, who co-wrote the report, which was released on Monday, for Eyes on Earth, a water resources monitor.
Now, water wars are nothing new. I think there is a whole genre of Westerns based on fights over water. Typically, however, tens of millions of people and one of the most fertile rivers on the Earth are not being affected.
Beijing’s control of the upstream Mekong, which provides as much as 70 percent of the downstream water in the dry season, has raised hackles, even though the Southeast Asian nations depend on trade with China. While the Chinese government has introduced a global development program that it says will benefit poorer trading partners, a backlash is growing among countries that feel they are losing out.
“The problem is that the Chinese elite see water as something for their use, not as a shared commodity,” said Brian Eyler, director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia program and author of “Last Days of the Mighty Mekong.”
When it comes to China, I think the only thing limiting how and where they are waging low intensity warfare is our imagination. Anyway, check out the article and tell me what you think.