When Wen visited the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in the spring of 2025, the independent Chinese ecologist saw numerous heavy trucks loaded with construction materials along Medog county in the southeastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Only a single, narrow road connected the county seat and townships, and locals believed the roads were being paved just as the central government was ramping up plans to build a hydropower plant. It wasn’t just a hydropower project, though. Chinese