China building secretive irrigation tunnel project in Xinjiang to change ethnic balance

Feb 08,2022:China is constructing a secretive 514-kilometre-long irrigation project in its restive Xinjiang region to change the ethnic balance in favour of Han Chinese by moving Uyghurs, Kazakhs and others out of the region. Jilil Musha, writing in Radio Free Asia (RFA) said that the project aims to open desert areas for development, but experts say it could dilute the Uyghur population.
The project comprises three deeply dug tunnels, the longest of which is the 280-kilometre-long (174-mile-long) Kashuang Tunnel. Despite the project’s size, China’s official media has yet to report on the irrigation network as it is being built at a time of well-documented persecution against Uyghur Muslims who live in the area.
However, workers have been hit by strong streams of water, forcing them to flee the site. The problem is having a serious detrimental impact on construction, according to the Tunnel Construction report, said Jilil. The tunnel project seeks to divert water from the higher reaches of the Irtysh River, the source of which is snow from China’s Altay Mountains into the deserts of northern Xinjiang. The precise endpoint is not yet known.
The river is an international waterway that flows through Xinjiang, Kazakhstan and Russia into the Arctic Sea. The river — the second-largest river in Xinjiang — is fed by some 11 billion cubic meters (388.5 billion cubic feet) of snow per year, according to the Chinese government.