China is accelerating the extraction of minerals and hydroelectric power from the Tibetan Plateau (a vast high-altitude region that Beijing has governed for 75 years), with nearly 200 hydropower dams either built or planned and lithium mines expanding to meet growing demand from electric vehicles and AI data centres. Residents in villages such as Wosecun face forced displacement as their land is submerged to make way for dams, with authorities yet to confirm compensation amounts or resettlement locations, while Tibetan herders living near the Jiajika lithium mine say they have repeatedly raised health concerns only to be ignored. Critics, including the NGO Tibet Watch, argue that the projects are far less environmentally friendly than Beijing claims when accounting for ecosystem destruction, construction pollution, and flood risk in a seismically active region, and that Tibetans have no meaningful say in decisions affecting their land.