OPINION

China's future depends on how it tames its rivers

Oped, Giulio Boccaletti, Published on 11/08/2020

» The East Asian monsoon is pummelling China this summer. As of late July, flood alerts had been issued for 433 rivers, thousands of homes and businesses had been destroyed, and millions of people were on the verge of becoming homeless. The water level of Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake, has risen to a record-breaking 22.6 metres, prompting authorities in the eastern province of Jiangxi (population: 45 million) to issue "wartime" measures. Chinese citizens have not been threatened with devastation on this scale in more than 20 years, and this is likely just the beginning.