By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 14 July: A study by Chinese geologists has raised fresh questions over the safety of China’s massive hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo in occupied Tibet, identifying an active fault beneath the construction site despite Beijing’s repeated assurances that the project meets the highest safety standards and would reduce disaster risks.

The findings, published last month in the Chinese-language journal Sedimentary Geology and Tethyan Geology under the supervision of the state-owned China Geological Survey, identified the newly named Paizhen Fault beneath the project area in south-eastern Tibet and warned that it remains geologically active. The study came to light after the South China Morning Post reported on it on 9 July.

According to the researchers, the fault has remained active since the Pleistocene epoch, with continued movement fracturing the Earth’s crust a...