[Correspondent Column] The Ironic Flood Damage in the Canal Country China

China has a terrain that is higher in the west and lower in the east. This is why the major rivers in China originate in the west and flow eastward. The representative rivers are the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

The Yangtze River originates from the Tangula Mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in western China, flowing through a total of 11 provinces including Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan, Chongqing, Hubei, and Shanghai, before emptying into the Yellow Sea (West Sea). The length of the Yangtze River alone reaches 6,300 km.

The Yellow River is 5,464 km long. Along with Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus civilization, it is one of the cradles of ancient civilization. The Yellow River also flows from west to east.

Because of the terrain being high in the west and low in the east, there are almost no large rivers flowing from north to south or south to north in China. This is why China is known as a country of canals.

The history of canals in China dates back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (5th century BCE), but the canals we can directly observe today were first constructed during the Sui Dynasty (581?618). Emperor Yang of Sui (the second emperor) built a canal connecting the Yangtze River and the Yellow River to bring abundant goods from the southern regions (historically noted as being made for boating). The canal connected five rivers: Hai River, Yellow River, Yangtze River, Qiantang River, and others. The length of this canal alone is 1,500 km. For reference, the distance from Seoul to Busan is about 420 km.

The canal that was expanded and completed from this original canal is the Jing-Hang Canal (京杭運河). It starts from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province in the south and extends all the way to Beijing, reaching 1,794 km. The expansion was part of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which draws water from the south to supply the water-scarce northern regions.

The Western Development Project that the Chinese government is focusing on is also fundamentally based on canals. The basic concept of the Western Development is to build factories in the underdeveloped western regions and transport the products produced there eastward by connecting rivers.

It also includes the "West-to-East Gas Pipeline" (西氣東輸) plan, which uses waterways to transport natural resources (such as natural gas) stored in the western regions to the eastern coastal areas.

The Three Gorges Dam, which has recently appeared frequently in the media due to concerns about collapse risks, was also built as part of the Western Development Project. Since connecting waterways inevitably creates drops in elevation depending on the terrain, it was decided to generate hydroelectric power. The electricity produced is also sent from west to east along the canal route, following the "West-to-East Electricity Transmission" (西電東送) strategy.

China is a country with the world's best technology in flood control projects that block and open waterways, but ironically, it is also a country frequently affected by flood damage.

In particular, the Yangtze River, which is the fundamental backbone of the Western Development, is the biggest victim of flooding. The Yangtze River experienced a massive flood in 1954 that caused over 30,000 deaths. At that time, more than 18 million people lost their homes or had to leave their hometowns due to flood damage. The Yangtze River also suffered from flooding in 1998, which resulted in over 3,000 deaths and 15 million displaced people. Due to heavy rains lasting more than two months, the Yangtze River is experiencing its third flood event this year. More than 50 million flood victims have occurred in the areas surrounding the Yangtze River, truly suffering from water disasters.

While climate change is the biggest cause of flooding, experts also point to China's reckless land reclamation and excessive dam construction as contributing factors. Climate change is a risk that is expected to worsen in the future. There are concerns whether the rivers, dams, and embankments that China has built and maintained for over 1,500 years can withstand climate change. The Yellow Sea of China is our West Sea. The thousands or tens of thousands of tons of Chinese waste flowing into the West Sea are already a cause for concern.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.