Public Anger Grows After Floodwaters Deliberately Diverted to Save China’s Capital
Authored by Alex Wu via The Epoch Times
Many towns in China’s Hebei Province have sustained severe flooding due to the Chinese communist regime’s deliberate use of the locales as a “moat” to protect China’s capital city of Beijing and the new political hub of Xiong’an, following the strongest storm in northern China in years.
The storm, super typhoon Doksuri, reached northern China on July 29 and was the strongest to hit Beijing and the surrounding areas in Hebei Province in 140 years, triggering flash floods and landslides.
Provincial officials said on Aug. 3 that the floodwaters might take a month to completely recede. According to state media CCTV, modeling estimated that another 300 million to 400 million cubic meters of water needed to flow to the ocean.
On July 31, flash floods were reported in the municipality of Beijing, a centrally administered region surrounded by Hebei Province, and by Aug. 1, eight reservoirs in the city began discharging water at the same time.
Situated between Beijing and Xiong’an, the city of Zhuozhou and its nearby areas—home to about 1 million people—were subsequently flooded as authorities decided to sacrifice the regions as a “flood storage zone.” A large number of people were trapped in fast-rising floodwaters as many people were given only two hours to evacuate on Aug. 1 or didn’t receive the evacuation order. Villages, towns, and vast farmlands were quickly submerged by the floodwaters.
Li Guoying, China’s water resources minister, on Aug. 1 publicly required “ensuring the absolute safety of capital Beijing, Daxing International Airport, and Xiong’an New Area against the flood.” Ni Yuefeng, head of Hebei Province, pledged on state media on Aug. 2 that in order to reduce the pressure on Beijing’s flood controls, the province would resolutely be the “moat” for the capital. The official statements sparked public anger.
A staff member from the Zhuozhou Emergency Management Bureau conceded on July 31 that flood discharge from Beijing was one of the reasons for the significant rise in water levels in the regional city, mainland Chinese outlet Southern Weekend.
Local residents told the Chinese language , all of Zhuozhou was inundated by the floodwater discharge. In addition to communications, water, electricity, and transportation were cut off, they said.
By Aug. 2, floodwaters had reached Bazhou, which is about 130 kilometers (about 80 miles) downstream from Zhuozhou and 40 kilometers (almost 25 miles) upstream of the major of Tianjin, destroying many homes and properties, and leaving tens of thousands homeless.
Videos on mainland Chinese platform Feidian posted on Aug. 3 showed that independent volunteer rescue teams had arrived in Zhuozhou, and could only move around by boat. Rescuers said that the floodwater on average was 7 to 8 meters (23 to 26 feet) deep, with the deepest areas reaching 12 meters.
