Original article: Radio Free Asia & Tibet Watch
Author: Pelbar, Tenzin Pema and Gai Tho
Recent news reports have emerged that the Chinese government will destroy Atsok Gompa—another sacred Tibetan monastery—and displace over 15,555 people in the surrounding Drakkar, Kawasumdo, and Mangra counties to build another Chinese mega-dam along the Machu or “Yellow River.”
China is advertising this dam in international media as a feat of engineering because it will be the world’s largest 3D-printed structure at over 590 feet tall and controlled by AI. But they ignore the fact that this dam will destroy another sacred Tibetan site and displace thousands of Tibetans who have stewarded this very land for thousands of years.
This announcement comes directly after the arrests and massive protests in Wongpo Tok in Kham Dege against the construction of the Kamtok hydropower dam.
This is a clear pattern of China colonizing Tibet, ravaging its resources, and displacing the indigenous people who have lived on their ancestral lands since time immemorial.
Watch SFT’s Instagram Reel of the Mega-Dam news here.
Reporting by @rfatibetan @tsering_woeser and @tibetwatch