This is so. But there is a wider story Tibetans can tell, that changes the whole narrative.
By Tibet Rights Collective
Tibet Needs More Friends Especially Environmentalists
For decades Tibetans have appealed to the world for solidarity and today a surprising group of potential allies is emerging environmentalists Although at first it may seem that environmental advocates would look to China as a global climate leader given its massive investments in solar wind hydro and power grids across Tibet the deeper reality is far darker
Chinas socalled green energy miracle rests overwhelmingly on extractivism displacement and the silencing of Tibetans whose land is being converted into sacrifice zones under the guise of climate progress Tibet is framed as Chinas showroom of highspeed decarbonisation but in truth it is the frontline of green colonialism
Tibetans have two urgent stories to tell the world stories backed by extensive evidence from Tibet Watch Rukororg Turquoise Roof International Campaign for Tibet ICT scientific research and Chinas own policy documents
STORY 1 Solarising Tibet Cultural Erasure and Forced Displacement Read : https://www.tibetrightscollective.in/news/climate-dangers-of-chinas-hydropower-ambitions-in-tibet-pose-grave-risks-for-asia
China is rapidly carpeting Tibetan landscapes with megascale solar farms wind turbines hydropower stations pumped hydro batteries and hydrogen projects all bundled together into what Beijing calls its new energy corridor
However these installations come at a terrible cost
Tibetan nomads drogpa are forcibly removed from ancestral lands
Entire villages and monasteries are displaced to clear space for solar and hydro expansion
Communities are relocated to frontier villages under heavy surveillance a tactic documented by Tibet Watch and ICT
Traditional livelihoods sustainable pastoralism and cultural continuity are systematically eliminated
This is not decarbonisation it is economic assimilation
Policies on grazing bans soil restoration biodiversity protection poverty alleviation national parks and rural revitalisation all include explicit clauses that enable the eradication of nomadic life China portrays this as environmental management but the reality is a state campaign to depopulate rural Tibet
Solar farms surrounding hydro dams wind turbines on sacred mountains and battery farms near rivers are simply the latest chapter in a decadeslong project of eliminating Tibetans from their land
STORY 2 Chinas Emissions Are Melting Tibetan Permafrost Releasing Methane That Threatens the Planet Read : https://www.tibetrightscollective.in/news/china-pushes-lithium-mining-in-tibet-igniting-fears-of-exploitation-
Environmentalists worldwide stress glacier melt on the Tibetan Plateau but they often overlook an even greater danger permafrost melt
The Tibetan Plateaus permafrost covering an area larger than Germany and France combined is thawing rapidly due to Chinas massive carbon emissions still the worlds highest
Permafrost melt releases methane a greenhouse gas far more destructive than CO2
Although China promised in 2025 to address methane from landfills oil wells and livestock it remains silent on permafrost methane even though Chinas own climate pollution is accelerating the thaw
This dangerous feedback loop threatens global climate stability yet China continues to frame its Tibetan megaprojects as ecoheroism
Why Should Environmentalists Care
Because the Tibetan Plateau is
Asias water tower feeding 1 billion people
A global climate stabiliser
A region being sacrificed for Chinas industrial expansion
Chinas green energy hub of Asia narrative is seductive The world horrified by US climate stagnation looks to China as a potential saviour But Tibet reveals the truth
Chinas green energy expansion in Tibet is inseparable from human rights violations
And with methane from melting Tibetan permafrost Chinas emissions threaten the entire planet not just Tibet
Chinas Big Picture Assimilation Through Infrastructure
The real purpose of these projects becomes clear only when we connect the dots
Research by Turquoise Roof Rukororg Tibet Watch and analyses of Chinas FiveYear Plans show a unified strategy
Remove Tibetans from rural areas
Seize land for statecontrolled energy production
Redirect Tibets electricity to Chinas coastal tech hubs
Assimilate Tibetans through schooling language erasure and surveillance
Treat Tibet as a resource colony not a homeland
Read : https://www.tibetrightscollective.in/news/destroying-heaven-the-tragedy-of-larung-gar
Solar farms are not isolated incidents they are part of a systematic policy of assimilation
Why the Rush Two Words Energy Security
Chinas breakneck construction pace has less to do with climate responsibility and more to do with
1 Industrial Overload
China anticipates soaring demand for electricity due to
AI
big data
hightech weapons
drone manufacturing
data centers
bitcoin mining
semiconductor fabs
Tibet becomes a giant power source for Shenzhen Guangzhou and Hong Kong
2 Fear of Energy Vulnerability
China remains heavily dependent on foreign fossil fuels
73 percent of its oil is imported WSJ reporting
Domestic coal consumption continues to rise
China burns more coal than the rest of the world combined
Thus Beijing sees Tibet as a guarantee of energy selfsufficiency
The Yarlung Tsangpo MegaProject Extraction Disguised as Security
Chinas RMB 12 trillion hydropower megadam on the Yarlung Tsangpo Brahmaputra is described first and foremost as a national security project
But whose security It secures
The coastal tech economy
Copper mining expansion
Highspeed rail networks
Chinas industrial future
It does not secure Tibetan livelihoods sacred landscapes or rights Instead it brings
More displacement
More frontier villages
More militarisation
More assimilation
China’s Petrostate Disguised as an Electrostate
Chinas stateowned giants CNPC CNOOC Sinopec now position themselves as green energy champions while
Expanding oil pipelines
Drilling new gas fields
Increasing coal extraction
Importing record amounts of fossil fuels
Hydro solar and wind in Tibet are designed to supplement not replace fossil fuels
Even by 2060 when China promises net zero it will still burn billions of tons of coal annually
Lithium Drones AI Tibet Powers Chinas Tech Future
Few people know
BYDs globally dominant electric vehicles depend on Tibetan lithium
DJI drones reshaping warfare in Gaza and Ukraine are powered by Tibetan electricity
Chinas AI supercomputing centers run on power transmitted from Tibets new energy corridor
This is extraction on a global scale documented extensively by Rukororg and ICT
Tibetans Have an Alternative Vision
There is wisdom in slowing down in harmony with the land not in Chinas frantic race to build the worlds most complete industrial system
Tibet has something China cannot manufacture a spiritual ecological and cultural framework that values balance over endless growth
Why This Story Must Reach New Audiences
Interest in Chinas geopolitical ambitions has never been higher Analysts think tanks journalists filmmakers and investors seek clarity about Chinas direction
By exposing
Tibets exploitation
Chinas green colonialism
The methane threat from permafrost
The assimilation agenda behind solar expansion
Hidden links between Tibets resources and global industries
we open space for new alliances
Environmentalists indigenous rights groups climate scientists investors and tech ethicists can become powerful allies of Tibet
Conclusion Tibet Is the Key to Understanding Chinas Greenwashing
China sells the world a story of climate heroism But behind the solar panels beneath the dams and under the melting permafrost lies a deeper truth
The survival of Tibets people environment and cultural identity is in direct conflict with Chinas extractive ambitions
Tibetans are not antienvironment They are the original environmental stewards of the Plateau What they oppose is
forced relocation
dispossession
ecological destruction masked as green progress
assimilation
the erasure of Tibetan identity
Tibet needs more friends and environmentalists can be among the strongest
Read more to reveal the truth they don’t want you to see: