'No longer an option...': Brahma Chellaney slams world’s deafening silence on China’s unchecked exploitation of Tibet

At the roof of the world, a quiet catastrophe is unfolding. China’s frenzied development drive across Tibet — marked by dam construction, mining, and road building — is pushing one of Earth’s most fragile ecosystems to the brink. These high-altitude projects, often steamrolled without environmental checks or consent from local communities, are disrupting Asia’s water towers, poisoning sacred rivers, and silencing centuries-old nomadic cultures.

As mega-dams rise along rivers like the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra), the environmental ripple effects are cascading far beyond Tibet — threatening water security, food systems, and geopolitical stability for nearly two billion people across South and Southeast Asia.

Geostrategist Brahma Chellaney says the silence around Tibet is not born of ignorance, but fear. “China has used its clout to block criticism of its ruinous actions on the Plateau,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Given the stakes, other nations cannot afford to let themselves be cowed by China.”

In an article, Chellaney emphasised that the Tibetan Plateau houses the world’s third-largest store of fresh water — second only to the Arctic and Antarctic — and is the birthplace of 10 major river systems, including the Yellow, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Irrawaddy, Indus, and Brahmaputra. Nearly 20% of the global population depends on these waters, yet the Plateau is now at the center of an escalating environmental crisis.

For over 20 years, China has pursued an aggressive, largely opaque campaign of dam-building in Tibet, refusing to negotiate any water-sharing agreements with downstream nations. The consequences are already visible: Chinese-built dams have driven Mekong River levels to historic lows, crippling fisheries and livelihoods across Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. As saltwater intrusion worsens in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, rice farmers are being forced to abandon their fields.

Yet Beijing’s hydropower ambitions are only expanding. A new dam under construction on the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra), in a quake-prone region of Tibet, is set to dwarf even the Three Gorges Dam. If completed, it could drastically alter water flows into India and Bangladesh — destabilising agriculture, ecology, and geopolitics in the region.

“Water is fast becoming the new oil,” Chellaney warned, as water conflicts intensify globally. China’s actions suggest it views rivers as tools of power — resources to be monopolised, not shared.

The destruction, however, goes beyond water. Tibet’s mineral-rich highlands are being gutted for lithium, gold, and copper — fuelling pollution, deforestation, and reinforcing China’s military grip on the region. With the Plateau closed to international scrutiny, the scale of the damage is hard to measure. Indigenous Tibetan voices are muzzled through arrests, exile, or worse.

The region’s ecological fragility is worsening under climate change. Tibet is warming twice as fast as the global average, with glacial ice melting at polar rates. This not only reduces water reserves but also reshapes the rivers that flow from the Plateau. And because Tibet helps regulate Asia’s climate — impacting monsoons, jet streams, and atmospheric circulation — the stakes go well beyond its borders.

Still, global institutions remain mute. As Chellaney wrote, “China has used its clout to suppress meaningful criticism from bodies like the UN and World Bank.”

That must change, Chellaney said. Nations must demand transparency: real-time water data, environmental impact assessments, and independent monitoring of Chinese projects. They must also back Tibetan indigenous rights — nearly a million people have been displaced since 2000 — and link trade or climate cooperation with accountability.

Allowing China’s unchecked exploitation of the Tibetan Plateau might feel like political pragmatism. But the cost of silence will echo across continents. Tibet is not just China’s frontier; it is Asia’s ecological lifeline. And it’s running out of time.