A crippling drought exacerbated by a record heat wave has spread across half of China and reached the normally frigid Tibetan Plateau, according to official data released ahead of more searing temperatures yesterday.
The world’s second-largest economy has experienced more than 70 days of heat waves, flash floods and droughts — phenomena that scientists say are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.
Southern China has recorded its longest continuous period of high temperatures since records began more than 60 years ago, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture said this week.
Photo: Reuters
Experts have said the intensity, scope and duration of the heat wave could make it one of the worst recorded in global history.
A chart from the National Climate Center on Wednesday showed that swathes of southern China — including the Tibetan Plateau — were experiencing “severe” to “extraordinary” drought conditions.
The worst-affected area — the Yangtze River basin, stretching from coastal Shanghai to Sichuan Province in China’s southwest — is home to more than 370 million people and contains several manufacturing hubs, including the megacity of Chongqing.
The China Meteorological Administration predicted continued high temperatures of up to 40oC in Chongqing and the provinces of Sichuan and Zhejiang yesterday.
However, some regions gained relief from the heat wave. Parts of southwestern Sichuan were battered by heavy rains overnight, causing the evacuation of almost 30,000 people, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
And in the southeast, Typhoon Ma-on made landfall in coastal Guangdong Province and Hong Kong yesterday morning.
“High temperatures have basically been alleviated in the regions of south China, Jiangxi and Anhui,” the meteorological agency said. “But high temperatures will continue for the next three days in regions including the Sichuan basin and provinces surrounding Shanghai.”
The Chinese State Council on Wednesday announced a 10 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion) subsidy to support rice farmers experiencing drought conditions, which authorities have warned pose a “severe threat” to this year’s autumn harvest.
China produces more than 95 percent of the rice, wheat and maize it consumes, but a reduced harvest could mean increased demand for imports in the world’s most-populous country — putting further pressure on global supplies already strained by the conflict in Ukraine.
Wednesday’s China Central Television evening news broadcast showed trucks supplying villagers who lacked drinking and agricultural water in rural Sichuan and Chongqing.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
‘LAGGING BEHIND’: The NATO secretary-general called on democratic allies to be ‘clear-eyed’ about Beijing’s military buildup, urging them to boost military spending NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte mentioning China’s bullying of Taiwan and its ambition to reshape the global order has significance during a time when authoritarian states are continuously increasing their aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. In a speech at the Carnegie Europe think tank in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte said Beijing is bullying Taiwan and would start to “nibble” at Taiwan if Russia benefits from a post-invasion peace deal with Ukraine. He called on democratic allies to boost defense investments and also urged NATO members to increase defense spending in the face of growing military threats from Russia
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
RSS