China is trying to centrally plan its way out of a black hole
It’s here in southwestern China’s postcard-perfect Yunnan province that the mighty Mekong River rises.
From its source in a nearby mountain range, the river proceeds south, cutting its way across Southeast Asia’s fertile lands through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
The Mekong is hugely important; its waters irrigate million of acres of land and provide untold quantities of fish, both of which support tens of millions of people in the region.
So it’s a major concern that China appears to be unilaterally diverting the Mekong to support its own needs.
We’ve discussed China’s worrisome drought several times in the past.
It would not be the slightest overstatement to say that China’s water situation is rapidly approaching crisis levels.
Even China’s Agriculture Ministry is sounding the alarm bells.
The numbers they’re reporting show that China already has to import more water than the United States imports oil.
And this is creating major problems for their food security– for without staggering food imports, China cannot feed itself.
If you add up all the acres of farmland that it takes to grow the amount of food China must now import each year, the total area is larger than the entire state of California.
And this problem is only getting bigger.
Here in Yunnan, the scenic countryside stretches to the horizon with beautiful farms and vast walnut groves, benefiting from the province’s gentle climate.
Yunnan is actually one of the biggest walnut producing regions in China, which itself is the largest walnut producer in the world.
But this won’t last. It can’t. They simply don’t have enough water.
That’s actually the reason I’m here– walnuts.
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