THE RETURN OF CONTIGUOUS EMPIRES A blog on China’s gamble on emerging a winner from Russia’s war against Ukraine Any time anyone anywhere outside China raises violations of the human rights of Tibetans, China instantly and angrily dismisses their concerns as illegitimate interference in China’s sovereign internal affairs. The substance of specific cases, […]
NEO PROPAGANDA #3 in a series of blogs on what to expect in Tibet in 2022 In 2022 Chinese Communist Party propaganda is no longer what we expect. Habitually, we assume China’s propaganda to be like the bold posters of the 1950s celebrating heroic model workers, glorifying hydro dams and smoking factory chimney stacks. Or […]
JADED Jade, solar, dams, expressways, power grids jostle for space at the pass Second topic in a series predicting Tibet in 2022 Blog 1/3 on Tibet becoming a pumped hydro battery In 2022 construction begins on Qinghai Golmud Nanshankou Pumped-storage power station to absorb solar array oversupply, according to China’s National Energy Administration. 青海格尔木南山口抽蓄电站 . […]
……….AND INTO THE PASS Blog 2/3 on Tibet becoming a pumped hydro battery Let’s begin again. There’s a lot to unpack. What started as a straightforward proposition to enhance China’s big investments in solar power with an upriver battery dam, turns out to have many pushes and pulls: climate change, glacial peaks, a jade […]
DOWN RIVER INTO A MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPE 3/3 on Tibet becoming a pumped hydro battery We follow the Gormo/Golmud river down. Having captured both of the rivers upstream and cut through the mountains, it descends below the pass into an altogether different world of gravel and sand, relentless winds, oil and gas wells […]
FINANCIALISING TIBET 1 in a series on what’s likely in Tibet in 2022 Why is a massive data centre being built in Lhasa? Five further questions arise. Why would giants of fintech, crypto currencies and automated wealth management apps choose to locate to Lhasa? Is Lhasa is becoming a centre of data processing for corporate […]
CHINA’S NO-SHOW AT GLASGOW COP26 22 aspects of China’s approach that are relevant to Tibet: China’s Meteorological Administration speaks with glowing approval of the increasing runoff from Tibetan glaciers, and the warming of Tibet as all good, as Tibet becomes more like China. The official China Meteorological Administration says of climate change across Tibet: […]
…AND INTENSIVE URBAN CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCE TRAINING Blog one in a series documenting China’s path to urbanising Tibet, depopulating the highlands, converting exnomads into infrastructure construction workers 1/5 ON THE SCAFFOLD: CONCRETISING TIBET Recent commentary on Tibet and Xinjiang, similarities and differences, focussed on labour mobilisation. Key question: are Tibetans being pushed off their pastures and […]
Blog TWO in a series documenting China’s path to urbanising Tibet, depopulating the highlands, converting exnomads into infrastructure construction workers 2/5 AN ARCHIPELAGO OF SECURITISED BORDER VILLAGES High on China’s construction agenda is the securitisation of over 3000 kms of border, in Shigatse and Lhoka municipalities (formerly prefectures) where Tibet abuts Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan […]
Blog three in a series documenting China’s path to urbanising Tibet, depopulating the highlands, converting exnomads into infrastructure construction workers 3/5 CLEARING THE TIBETAN HIGHLANDS Why does China these days frequently label Tibet an “ecological security barrier highlands”? What does that mean for tibetans? Much of the Tibetan Plateau is above 4800m altitude. Most of […]