Lead
In December 2014, the Chinese heard the news: "The mainland will spend 4 trillion yuan to develop and build a second Yellow River to solve the problem of flooding and other disasters such as the Yellow River."
But the move has drawn a lot of discontent from foreign countries, notably India, which protested to China in 2017 that the construction of the Yellow River was undermining international trade.
Why did China build a second Yellow River, and why did India oppose it?
It has attracted so many questions from the world about what went wrong in China.
The reason for China's "new" Yellow River.
It is not only about adapting to climate change, but also about disasters such as flooding over the Yellow River, and even increasing domestic food production to meet the needs of the country's 1.3 billion people.
Judging from the domestic reality: due to the rapid increase in population, the demand for food has also increased, but the domestic grain production has rapidly approached saturation or even saturation, which will lead to a crisis in the country's internal grain production.
And with the increase of people's awareness of environmental protection, environmental pollution is becoming more and more serious, and some water resources around China are also rapidly decreasing.
As one of the oldest rivers in mainland China and one of the most important rivers in China, the Yellow River is not only related to the country's economic construction, but also to the country's development.
As the global environment changes, the Yellow River is facing increasing challenges, which will also bring strategic risks to the mainland.
The crisis facing the Yellow River is not only national, but also local, and it is far beyond the capacity of local governments.
As a last resort, the mainland had to introduce relevant policies for the comprehensive management of the Yellow River, which will also cost 4 trillion yuan to develop and build a second Yellow River, and this second Yellow River has even been launched in 1953, that is, the "South-to-North Water Diversion" project.
Therefore, to the ears of foreign countries, China's new development of the second Yellow River is just one more sounding "bold statement", but in the eyes of insiders, the second Yellow River is the "South-to-North Water Diversion" project.
Many foreign countries have questioned and India has opposed it.
Indian officials protested to China in 2017, saying the country's construction of the Yellow River was undermining international trade.
But India's protests over the construction of the Yellow River have not helped, and in the midst of doubts and controversy, China's major water pipes have been quietly repaired and the dream of a south-to-north water diversion project has been successfully realized.
Today's achievements of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project are inseparable from the achievements of its development and construction, as well as the results of the hard work and struggle of the Communist Party of China and the people of the whole country.
Able to withstand the wind and waves, in a cheer and blessing, China is celebrating the success of the new Yellow River.
But in addition to the celebration, we have to think about "why do foreign countries have so many doubts and dissatisfaction with China's new construction of the Yellow River?"
Is it because foreigners are worried that China's new construction of the Yellow River will damage the environment and cause new ecological disasters, or is it really for China's sake?
We might as well take a look here to see if such protests by Indians are really for the sake of China?
China's new construction of the Yellow River hits the nail on the head of India.
Most of India's geography is vast plains, and this geography is also the advantage of India's "large-scale construction" of agriculture, which has enabled India, a country with a large population, to survive the food crisis among a population of 130 million people.
However, it is precisely because of the large population in India that the ecological environment of the Indians has gradually deteriorated, and India's title as "the world's first continental-level country" does exist.
It is precisely by virtue of this vast land that India has raised 1.3 billion Indians, but it is precisely because the land area is too large that it has brought a lot of impact to India's ecological environment, so the crops grown in this vast land are not the same.
India is gradually importing rice and corn and other crops from the mainland to reduce food prices and improve economic efficiency, but India's rapid population has also caused a lot of problems within the country.
India has also had to choose between economic efficiency and a large population when it comes to rolling out relevant policies, and they have chosen to use the "big water" project that has been inherited for centuries to reclaim land.
However, Indian farmers have had to use agricultural tools that have been handed down for hundreds of years, as well as a series of agricultural activities such as cultivating the land, which has caused great harm to the land and the water source in the ground is rapidly decreasing.
Secondly, India is a large country, part of the land area is occupied by rivers, for example, the "Ganges" in India is used as the source of a river, but this river cannot meet the water consumption of India as a large country, so India has to import water resources from other countries.
Not only on the land, but also the Indians are mining overseas, but in the process of mining and prospecting, they pollute some of the domestic water resources, which makes India have to import water from abroad, so they will lead to the embarrassment of India "gold everywhere, but water resources cannot be imported".
Therefore, India obtains water resources through import and export trade in this embarrassing situation, but China does not interfere in economic and trade with each other, so India will protest to China as its source of "water".
But behind this, India is more afraid of China's new construction of the Yellow River, that is, "grasping the key points to repel the opponent".
The Ganges River is one of the most important rivers in India, but in the process of India's economic construction, the water resources in the Ganges are pumped and sewage is discharged into the river, so that the water quality of the Ganges River is also rapidly deteriorating, and the groundwater source is also rapidly decreasing.
epilogue
The Yellow River is the most important river in the known history of the mainland, but the status of the Yellow River is also more important than the Ganges, this river is not only related to the economic construction of the mainland, but also related to the development of the country.
So does India want to "think about the mainland" or "be selfish" in this matter?
In addition, some countries are blending oil and water in it, so the mainland may wish to be more diplomatically vigilant in the international arena.