International
strategic experts say that all adds up to a worrying situation in a region now
confronting fresh tensions as China and nearby countries make territorial
claims to islands in the South China Sea. “It’s right up there with the South
China Sea as a longer-term threat to peace and stability in the region,” says
Richard Cronin of the Stimson Center, an international security think-tank in
Washington DC.
If China fails to release enough water during the dry season,
most of the new downstream dams will struggle to generate power at that time of
the year, he says. And considering China’s own water shortages, it is possible
Beijing could decide to prioritise water over energy production and withhold
some of the flow for its use.
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