China Fights Narrative After 1,300 Die in Nepal-Tibet Floods as $170 Billion Dam Faces Scrutiny
Updated
Updated · Newsweek · Sep 7
China Fights Narrative After 1,300 Die in Nepal-Tibet Floods as $170 Billion Dam Faces Scrutiny
3 articles · Updated · Newsweek · Sep 7
Summary
Over 1,300 people died after an August 26 glacial collapse sent debris about 62 miles into central Nepal, and Beijing is now battling accusations that secrecy worsened the disaster’s fallout.
Latest assessments say no Chinese hydropower station upstream could have caused the ice avalanche, but experts say Chinese-built bridges, roads and buildings along the valley may have altered the debris flow’s speed and composition.
China censored witness videos within hours and waited 11 days to allow foreign media into Gyirong, feeding claims it failed to share hydrological and glacier-risk data that Nepal had sought three months earlier.
The backlash is spilling into regional politics: India-based critics are using the floods to question China’s reliability in the Himalayas and to warn about its opaque Medog project in eastern Tibet.
That project—priced at $170 billion and planned to generate 60 gigawatts—would deepen Chinese control over headwaters feeding India and Bangladesh, where low trust and sparse disclosure are sharpening fears over downstream risks.