Editor’s note: According to foreign media reports, residents of China’s Zangnan region have recently staged strong protests against the Indian government’s Siang River hydropower project. The Indian government has taken coercive measures to crack down on residents of Zangnan.
In response, Pasang Norbu, former vice president and research fellow of the Xizang Academy of Social Sciences, founder and first president of the Tsangyang Gyatso Cultural Research Association of Xizang, and a renowned Tibetan scholar, issued a solemn statement in his personal capacity. The statement is as follows:
Pasang Norbu. Photo by Dekyi Drolma
I. The region where India is pushing forward the hydropower project is an inherent part of China’s territory. This assertion is supported by conclusive historical and legal evidence. I have specifically documented and examined the historical and legal status of this region in my published works. The boundaries unilaterally delineated by India are entirely illegal and have no legal validity whatsoever. India has no right to undertake any development or construction activities on this land belonging to China without authorization.
II. India’s forcible advancement of this hydropower project disregards the vital interests of the indigenous people who have lived here for generations and ignores their concerns regarding their homes, environmental protection, livelihoods and indigenous culture. I firmly support the protests launched by local residents to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.
III. India’s forcible advancement of construction projects on Chinese territory and its use of security forces to suppress the demands of local residents constitute blatant illegal acts and seriously violate the fundamental principles of international law. I strongly urge India to immediately cease all illegal development activities on this Chinese territory, stop suppressing local residents’ efforts to safeguard their rights and interests, and take their demands seriously.
IV. No project pursued through illegal occupation or unilateral actions can alter the objective fact of territorial sovereignty, and such projects are doomed not to last. Safeguarding China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is my unwavering position.
Pasang Norbu
Lhasa, November 6, 2026
Video screenshot: Residents of China’s Zangnan region strongly protest India’s illegal project construction.
Editor：Bella Wu
