China on Wednesday said an earthquake in the Tibet Autonomous Region could have caused “turbidity” or muddiness in the waters in the lower reaches of Yarlung Zangbo river, which flows as the Siang and then the Brahmaputra into northeastern India.
The foreign ministry, in a statement to Hindustan Times, dismissed reports that said the muddying of the waters of the Siang, which enters India in Arunachal Pradesh, was caused by infrastructure projects being built by China.
The ministry clarified its statement was being issued on “humanitarian” grounds and did not change China’s stance on the border issue - Beijing claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of “South Tibet”.
Experts in India had earlier hinted that the sudden muddying of the river could be a deliberate ploy by China to prove a point against the backdrop of tense bilateral relations following the military standoff at Doklam near the Sikkim boundary during July-August.
“We have noted that Indian media recently made a series of reports on this issue. They said China was conducting water conservancy project or exploiting a mine previously ,whereas now (they) claim there is a barrier lake upstream,” said the statement from the foreign ministry spokesperson’s office.
“I could tell you responsibly that none of these speculations is true according to the results of the investigation (conducted) by relevant Chinese authorities,” it added.
{{/usCountry}}“I could tell you responsibly that none of these speculations is true according to the results of the investigation (conducted) by relevant Chinese authorities,” it added.
{{/usCountry}}The statement referred to an earthquake in the region in November as the reason behind the turbidity in the river.
“In mid-November this year, a 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit the area near Mainling County in Tibet, which might lead to the turbidity in the middle and lower reaches of the river for a certain period of time,” the statement said.
Mainling county is in eastern Tibet Autonomous Region, close to Arunachal Pradesh.
The statement further said: “After the earthquake, we monitored the water quality of the Yarlung Zangbo River and the results showed that it met the standards of Class III water.”
In China, the Class III standard for water denotes fairly clean quality.
The foreign ministry also qualified its statement with regard to the dragging border dispute.
“I would like to stress that the above-mentioned investigation is utterly for humanitarian considerations and does not affect China’s stance on the border issue,” it said.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministry had said it would “maintain communication” with India on cross-border rivers to deal with massive lakes formed by landslides on the Yarlung Zangbo river.
Reports said three lakes had been formed by landslides following the earthquake in the eastern section of the China-India border.
The lakes were “caused by natural factors“ and were not the outcome of a “man-made accident”, spokesperson Hua Chunying said. “I noticed that authorised Indian professionals have made an analysis and clarified," she added, referring to reports of the lakes being detected by satellites.