'Malicious Speculation': China Denies Tibet Projects Linked to Nepal Floods
China said experts in both countries traced the mudslide to a glacier collapse in Nepal and rejected claims that its hydropower projects caused the floods.
- On Monday, China rejected claims that its large hydropower projects in Tibet caused deadly flash floods in Nepal last week, calling such allegations "malicious speculation" at a Beijing briefing.
- Flash floods swept through northern and central Nepal last week, with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reporting 903 dead and 4,247 missing as of Monday.
- Experts and official institutions identified the disaster's cause as a high-altitude glacier collapse, which the Geological Survey interpreted as a 5.2-magnitude seismic event.
- Indian television personality Arnab Goswami questioned whether Beijing played "foul," while Indian strategic analyst Brahma Chellaney suggested Chinese infrastructure in the Himalayan region may have amplified the flood's consequences.
- China faces long-standing criticism over its $167.8 billion dam on the Brahmaputra River, which geologists warn sits on an active fault line despite the country maintaining it follows the highest industrial standards.
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China denies link between Tibet hydel projects & flashflood - The Tribune
China on Monday dismissed claims linking its massive hydropower projects in Tibet to the August 26 flash flood disaster in Nepal, calling them “malicious speculation”. “We noted that experts and official institutions of China and Nepal have made some assessment on the cause of the disaster,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a media briefing in Beijing when asked about criticism blaming Chinese projects.
China Rejects Criticism Linking Tibet Hydropower Projects To Nepal Flash Flood
The flash floods, believed to have been triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border, swept through northern and central Nepal last week, killing hundreds and leaving thousands missing
China pushed back against claims by some Indian commentators who debated whether Beijing was to blame for last week’s deadly landslide along the Nepal-Tibet border.
As of Monday (August 31), flash floods in the border region between Nepal and Tibet, China, have claimed more than 900 lives and left nearly 5,000 missing. Prominent Indian broadcasters and strategic scholars have condemned the Chinese Communist Party, arguing that its engineering activities in the upstream border region and the lack of adequate warnings exacerbated the disaster.
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