Technological Challenges and Environmental Concerns in the Construction of Border Infrastructure in Tibet: A Case Study of the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway
China’s prowess in building infrastructure is widely recognized and evident in the massive rail, road, air, and other infrastructure built across the country and the globe. In fact, the Chinese state promotes its infrastructure building capabilities in remote areas like the border areas in Tibet as proof that the Communist Party of China-led political system is efficient in delivering on these otherwise difficult tasks. In recent years, China has also undertaken several transport infrastructure projects namely highways, expressways, rail lines, and land ports along the China-Nepal border to enhance connectivity and trade of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) with Nepal (Xizang Ribao 2023; Infzm.com 2021).
However, alongside narratives of successes, there exist numerous accounts which suggest that overcoming technological, climatic, and logistics challenges in hostile terrain like in the border areas with India or in Tibet, more generally, is not easy. By taking a case study of the Lhasa-Nyingchi segment of the Sichuan-Tibet railway, the essay highlights these challenges and locates their significance for China’s long-term plans for rail, road, and air infrastructure in these areas. It also highlights potential environmental and security implications.
The Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway
The 404km-long Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway section was completed in 2020 and is part of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway which runs between Chengdu and Lhasa for 1,543 kilometers. Combined with other transport infrastructure, this section is a key node in the TAR government’s plan to develop Lhasa, Lhokha, and Nyingchi as part of an integrated economic zone (China Daily 2024). Militarily, this section is widely considered to be vital in terms of providing access to border areas (Ramachandran 2020; CSIS n.d.). Moreover, the construction of a line connecting Kangding (also called Dartsedo) in Sichuan and Nyingchi is already underway and is expected to be completed in 2030 (Ramachandran 2020).
Map 1