Apr 6, 2010

Countries Blame China, Not Nature, for Water Shortage

NewYork Times In southern China, the worst drought in at least 50 years has dried up farmers' fields and left tens of millions of people short of water.

A farmer takes water from a dried-up pond to water his vegetable field during a drought in Jiangxi province. Photograph: Stringer Shanghai/Reuters (Courtesy of guardian.co.uk)

Farmers and fishermen in countries that share the Mekong River with China, especially Thailand, have lashed out at China over four dams that span the Chinese portion of the 3,000-mile river, despite what appears to be firm scientific evidence that low rainfall is responsible for the plunging levels of the river, not China's hydroelectric power stations.

Chinese officials, normally media shy, recently held a news conference and have appeared at seminars, including one on Thursday, to make their case that the drought is purely a natural phenomenon.

Read full at NewYork Times