Beijing has used many of its resources. A decade ago, China became the world’s largest importer of agricultural goods. Arable land is shrinking due to overuse. In addition, the country is the world’s largest importer of energy: China imports three-quarters of the oil it uses. This was written by one of the authors of the new book called “The Danger Zone” for Bloomberg.
The water situation in China is particularly tense. China is home to 20% of the world’s population, but only 7% of drinking water. Entire regions, especially in the north, suffer from water scarcity and drought.
Thousands of rivers have disappeared amid industrialization and pollution. Many of the rivers have poor water quality and their numbers continue to increase. According to some estimates, 80% to 90% of groundwater in China and half of river water is too dirty to drink. More than 50% of groundwater and 25% of river water cannot be used even in industry and agriculture.
This is a problem that will cost China dearly. The country is forced to divert water from relatively humid regions to the north, which is most severely affected by the drought. Experts believe that they are lost $ 100 billion a year as a result of water shortages. Shortages and affected agriculture are ravaging large tracts of land. Energy shortages due to water shortages are already common across the country.
Drought threatens the world’s largest exporter of soybean meal
The level of the river on which the goods are transported is record low
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Moreover, Chinese authorities have announced that Guangzhou and Shenzhen will face drought next year.
In 2005, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao announced that water shortages threatened the “survival of the Chinese people.” It is clear that resource scarcity and political instability often go hand in hand. Water problems also cause geopolitical conflicts.
Much of China’s freshwater is found in areas such as Tibet. The communist government took it by force and took power there in 1949. For years, China has been trying to solve its resource challenges by putting pressure on its neighbors.
With the construction of several large dams on the Mekong River, Beijing has caused repeated droughts and devastating floods in Southeast Asia – Thailand and Laos.
According to Indian analyst Brahma Celani, “China’s territorial expansion in the South China Sea and the Himalayas is the result of efforts to appropriate water resources.” It can be said that the more thirsty China is, the more dangerous it is.
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