Water as a Human Right

The scarcity of water resources has become a prominent challenge for China, as agriculture, industry, and domestic consumption demands continue to escalate while the availability of water is dwindling. This predicament is particularly significant in northern China. The Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) holds a critical position in this context, as the Tibetan plateau represents the primary watershed in Asia and the origin of ten major rivers, including the Brahmaputra (known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet), the Indus, the Sutlej, the Mekong (known as Lancang in Tibet), as well as at least two of the headwaters of the Ganges (the Alaknanda and Bhagirathi). Approximately 90 per cent of the runoff from Tibetan rivers flows downstream, not just to mainland China, but also to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan ( Mathou, 2005 ). This renders the management of water resources on the Tibetan plateau to be of paramount importance.