Chinese Whispers: What China's planned mega-dam means for Asia
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The Spectator
4.4 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2025
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Xinhua write-up gave few other details, but the news has caused reverberations across Asia as the river on which the dam would be built, the Yarlung Tsangpo, flows into both India and Bangladesh. The existence of the dam could, as this episode explains, have extensive impact on these downriver countries.
To break down the complicated water politics of the region, Cindy Yu is joined by Chinese Whispers regular, the journalist Isabel Hilton, who founded the climate NGO Dialogue Earth (formerly known as China Dialogue); and Neeraj Singh Manhas, an expert on transboundary rivers and Asian water politics, currently at South Korea’s Parley Policy Initiative.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before we begin this podcast, I'd like to tell you about a special deal. |
| 0:04.0 | Subscribe today to The Spectator for just £12 and receive a 12 week subscription in print and online, along with, here's the magic bit, a free £120, John Lewis or Waitrose Voucher. |
| 0:15.9 | Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher. |
| 0:32.4 | Hello and welcome to Chinese Whispers with me, Cindy Yu. |
| 0:40.3 | Every episode, I'll be talking to journalists, experts and long-time China watchers about the latest in Chinese politics, society and more. There'll be a smattering of history to catch you up on the background knowledge and some context as well. |
| 0:45.3 | How do the Chinese see these issues? |
| 0:48.3 | Just before the end of 2024, Chinese state media, Xin Hua, slipped out an announcement. The long-discussed megadam in |
| 0:55.6 | Medoc County, Tibet, has been greenlit. When built, it will generate three times more energy |
| 1:01.0 | than China's three gorgeous dam, currently the largest dam. The Xin Hua write-up gave few other |
| 1:07.1 | details. But the news has caused reverberations across Asia because the river on which |
| 1:12.0 | the dam will be built, the Yarlong Sanpo, flows into both India and Bangladesh. The existence of the |
| 1:18.2 | dam could, as we will hear in this episode, have extensive repercussions on these down river |
| 1:22.7 | countries. To break down the complicated water politics of the region, I'm joined today by Chinese Whispers Regular, |
| 1:28.9 | the journalist Isabel Hilton, |
| 1:30.3 | who founded the climate NGO Dialogue Earth, |
| 1:33.0 | formerly known as China Dialogue, |
| 1:35.1 | and Niraj Singh Manhas, |
| 1:36.9 | an expert on transboundering rivers and Asian water politics, |
| 1:40.7 | currently at South Korea's Pali policy initiative. |
| 1:44.3 | Niraj and Isabel, welcome to Chinese Whispers. |
| 1:46.4 | Thanks, Cindy. Thanks for having me. |
| 1:48.7 | So, Niroz, can we start with you? |
... |
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