The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xi'zang is the second largest region in the People's Republic of China. It borders the provinces of Yunnan, Qinghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar (Burma). Tibet in the geographical and ethno-cultural sense is not limited only to the autonomous region. The provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, and Yunnan also have Tibetan autonomous entities (districts and counties). This region is of crucial importance both for the geopolitics of the PRC and for ensuring the progressive development of this country. In this context, it is particularly important that Tibet is a kind of "hydrodonor" of South and Southeast Asia. Most of the region's rivers originate in the Tibetan Plateau, including such major rivers as the Indus (flowing through India and Pakistan), the Brahmaputra (India and Bangladesh), the Mekong (Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia), the Hongha (Red River) (Vietnam), and the Salween (Thailand and Myanmar). These rivers play a very important role in the life of the states of the region. The Indus River, which flows for 400 km within Tibet1, is the main source of water in Pakistan, Brahmaputra-in Bangladesh and in the eastern states of India, Mekong-all of Indochina, Salween-Myanmar and western Thailand, Hongha-north Vietnam. Within the borders of Southern Tibet, there are also sources of rivers that flow into the Ganges. In general, according to some sources, more than 85% of the Asian population, or about half of the world's population, uses water resources originating in Tibet (see [Water War..., 2003, p. 9]). The use of the water resources of these rivers or the "threat of their use" may become one of the most effective levers in the hands of Beijing in the future, especially since the water needs of the countries of the region will grow quite rapidly. By the way, back in the 50s of the XX century. The use of the resources of such rivers as the Brahmaputra, Mekong, Salween, etc. has a ... Read more