Recording available: Climate Crisis in Tibet – Part IV: China’s Militarization of Tibet: Strategic Ambitions and Ecological Fallout

July 24, 2025: The recording of the webinar “Climate Crisis in Tibet – Part IV: China’s Militarization of Tibet: Strategic Ambitions and Ecological Fallout” is now available on ISDP’s YouTube channel.

The fourth in a series, this webinar will explore and attempt to address the following questions with leading experts on the subject:

  • What is the extent and scope of the massive military modernization in the Tibetan Plateau? What is the ultimate cost of the upsurge in military infrastructure?
  • To what extent are financial resources being allocated in Tibet to support military modernization efforts? What are the current and projected strategies of the CCP for consolidating control over Tibet through the PLA? What long-term environmental effects will it have on Tibet?
  • How does the dual-use nature of China’s infrastructure in Tibet (e.g., airports, railways, dams) blur the line between civilian development and military expansion? In what ways is China’s infrastructure development in Tibet impacting the region’s fragile ecological systems, and what are the long-term environmental consequences?
  • How are local Tibetan communities responding to China’s militarization and infrastructure drive, and what does this reveal about the social cost of such development?
  • Can international diplomatic or environmental frameworks play a meaningful role in curbing the ecological and humanitarian fallout from China’s strategic activities in Tibet?
  • More specifically, how can the EU, India, and Japan, or the Indo-Pacific partners, contribute to checking Chinese military infrastructure activities and taking action against their negative environmental impact on the region? How does the Trump administration view the developments in Tibet?

Find out more about the event here.

You can watch all recordings of the series here.