China’s Blue Gold. The Cultural and Political Role of Water Management

Abstract

In this study the strong correlation between water control and power management is analyzed: from the current plans of intervention on the Asian water system to the examination of specific cases of Chinese hydro-hegemony. Currently, the production and use of clean energy appears for the Asian giant as an important strategy to ensure a better quality of life in the future, in parallel with a strengthening of its image and weight in international affairs, so far negatively affected by the rising level of pollution, dangerous for itself but also for all the other countries of the globe. Therefore, the production of green energy has become an imperative for China; in this context, the activity of water management has been increasingly carried forward: in past times, thanks to the opening and closing of dams and other channeling systems, the control and distribution of water to the masses constituted a tool of the Chinese government to reach consensus and, to some extent, also a way to control and to “blackmail” the population, limiting the use of water by the community in order to keep the most turbulent populations under control, and to dampen any rebellious ambitions. Water control and distribution have always been an experienced instrument of power and a way to exercise dominion over the population; today this tool can be consolidated into a new “ethical” strategy, in order to acquire power and control in the global debate.