Devastating floods in Hebei expose the site selection problem of China’s sub-capital, Xiong’an

Floodwater is “stored” in Zhuozhou to protect Beijing and Xiong'an

Originally published on Global Voices

Affected by the remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, the northeast of China, and Hebei province in particular, have recorded the heaviest torrential rainfall in 140 years. Between July 29 and August 2, 2023, record flooding has lead to the displacement of over 1.23 million people in Hebei province alone. 

Yet, a statement made by a top official of Hebei province regarding the region’s mission to serve as “a moat for the capital” has unintendedly exposed a design problem for China’s newly constructed sub-capital Xiong’an as it blocked flood waters from being discharged into Baiyangdian, the largest lake in Hebei.

The most devastating flood occurred in Zhuozhou, a small city with a 718,000 population surrounded by farmlands, and located between upstream Beijing and downstream Xiong’an. The flood was up to 7 meters high. Chinese breaking news whistleblower Teacher Li's video on Twitter showed the depth of floodwater in the small city:

涿州中学目前水位： pic.twitter.com/63dfEejRyp

— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) August 5, 2023

Safeguarding upstream Beijing

On August 2, Ni Yue-feng, the CCP secretary of Hebei province, instructed the rescue teams after visiting Zhuozhou and Xiong’an that they should follow the spirit of Chinese President Xi Jinping and proudly said that to safeguard Beijing, the surrounding regions should function as the “moat” of the Capital. 

The statement triggered a backlash as residents in the affected regions were unaware that they lived in the bed of the Capital's moat. In the case of Zhuozhou, the floods came in a flash, and many residents were trapped with no preparation and support. As shown in the surveillance TV taken on July 31 on a highway in Zhuozhou (via Twitter user @kevinpabloFR), the water level rose from a few inches to over one meter high in just a few minutes when vehicles were still running on the highway:

坐标：涿州
看看这段史诗级的洪水来的景象 pic.twitter.com/JhzBmjKwgx

— 左撇子内参 (@kevinpabloFR) August 4, 2023

Coordinates: Zhuozhou
Check out this epic flood scene pic.twitter.com/JhzBmjKwgx

At first, complaints on social media platforms about the unannounced discharge of floodwater were slammed as “rumors” by online patriots. But the Hebei CCP secretary’s remark about the necessity “to serve well as a moat for the capital” confirmed the allegations. 

A report on state-funded Global Times also confirmed that some areas in Zhuozhou were designated flood storage basins, and it would take about one month for the water to recede in the region fully, as 300 million to 400 million cubic meters of water is expected to pass flow across Zhuozhou even after the rainfall ceased. 

Safeguarding downstream Xiong’an

However, many raised the point that the unprecedented flood in Zhuozhou was not only caused by water discharge from upstream, but also by the blockage of water supposed to be discharged into Baiyandian, the biggest lake in Hebei province. Twitter user @Petrichor summed up the online discussion:

历史上，白洋淀是北京周围的蓄洪区。但今年涿州作为泄洪区。实际上涿州的海拔比雄安要高，为啥不往白洋淀泄洪？因为水利部不敢，雄安是钦定副都。以前遇到洪水，保首都北京即可，现在还要保皇帝舅舅家的雄安。 pic.twitter.com/mqWhS1mcbz

— Petrichor (@Jam79922967) August 3, 2023

Conventionally, Baiyandian is a water detention basin during floods. But this year, why didn't Zhuozhou discharge floodwater into Baiyangdian even though its water reached a critical level? Because the Department of Water Resources dared not take action as Xiong’an is the sub-capital. In the past, Zhuozhou just needed to protect Beijing. Now, it has to protect the emperor’s uncle’s homeland, Xiong’an. 

The newly constructed Xiong’an City is a grand development project that represents Chinese President Xi Jinping’s China Dream. It was coined as a sub-capital soon after the developmental project debuted in April 2017, as Beijing announced the gradual migration of “non-core” functions of the Capital to the New Area, which is 100 km from the Capital. In a recent visit to Xiong’an, Xi described Xiong’an as a “city of the future” as it is expected to serve as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship by 2035.

However, the calamitous floods in Hebei exposed the vulnerability of Xiong’an to future floods, a problem raised by Lu Dadao, a prominent Chinese geographer, back in 2019. Lu’s article resurfaced on Chinese social media platforms last week to explain the human error factor in the current flooding. Chinese Digital Times also saved a backup copy of Lu’s critique of the selection of the sub-capital site:

雄安新区选择在河北省北部平原上的一个大洼地（洼地中心部分是白洋淀）的“边坡”上，平均海拔10米左右。历史上洪涝灾害频发。未来的雄安新区可能需要按照极高的洪水标准设防。在严重洪水发生时，白洋淀有可能必须泄洪，可能会使城市被淹。 https://t.co/Us7gx8E6mT

— 中国数字时代 (@CDTChinese) August 3, 2023

The Xiong'an New Area is located on a large piece of lowland in the northern part of Hebei, surrounded by slopes. The heart of the lowland is Baiyangdian, and it is surrounded by edges of slopes with an average altitude of about ten meters.  In Chinese history, the region has been very vulnerable to flooding. The standard of flood-prevention measures of the future Xiong’an New Area has to be extremely high. When serious flooding occurs, Baiyangdian may have to discharge water, and the city may be submerged.

To prevent Xiong’an from being submerged, floodwater was not discharged into Baiyangdian this time. Veteran Chinese journalist Michael Anti explained how the Hebei authorities channelled the flood water with a map of Baoding prefecture, where the sub-capital is located:

用地图来显示下涿州水灾和雄安的关系。河北境内13个法定蓄滞洪区，这次开了7个，关键看保定市，只有1个没开，哪个？是历史上天然蓄水大户、附近唯一湖泊——白洋淀区（雄安）。这样，涿州县开了小清河（去津）、还有兰沟洼（南下），但不开白洋淀，自然兰沟洼水在白洋淀就下不去，只能东向缓慢去东淀。 pic.twitter.com/zQPRz4ET3T

— Michael Anti (@mranti) August 5, 2023

Let me use the map to indicate the relationship between Zhuozhou and Xiong’an. Hebei has 13 designated floodwater storage basins. This time, seven were activated. Within Baoding prefecture, only one had not been activated. Which one? The biggest natural water storage site and the only lake in the region — Baiyangdian region (Xiong’an). Zhuozhou discharged water through Xiaoqinghe (to Tianjin) and Langouwa [a reservior] (to the South) but did not discharge it to Baiyangdian. That’s why floodwater from Langouwa had to turn east and slowly discharge into Dongdian [in Tianjin].

As Langouwa’s floodwater took an east turn instead of going south to Baiyangdian, farmlands in Bazhou, another small city east of Xiong’an were submerged. Outraged villagers hence protested outside the city government, demanding compensation. Chinese dissident @ZhouFengSuo provided the context of the protest:

支持霸州人維權抗暴，沒有這抗议，外界都不知道霸州也被指定淹没了。查地图，霸州在雄安的东面，而涿州在北面，果然是为了保住习近平的雄安新区，把周围当作护城河。 https://t.co/m7nVK8Cvki

— 周锋锁 Fengsuo Zhou (@ZhouFengSuo) August 5, 2023

Support Bazhou’s protesters for defending their rights. People from outside would not have known that Bazhou was another designated site for submergence if they did not stand up to protest. I checked the map. Bazhou is east of Xiong’an and south of Zhuozhou. The aim is to protect Xi Jinping’s Xiong’an New Area by turning the surrounding areas into a moat. 

Meanwhile, Chinese social media started censoring discussions that blamed Xiong’an for the floods in Zhuozhou (via Teacher Li on Twitter):

有B站网友因为发布雄安和涿州的海拔对比图被封号15天 pic.twitter.com/lbFBY7Homy

— 李老师不是你老师 (@whyyoutouzhele) August 5, 2023

But there are still a lot of discussions about how water flew in Hebei during the flood. One Weiboer put the water channelling politics in China in a nutshell:

会不会被淹，不在于海拔高度，而是在于政治高度 ​

Whether a place is submerged or not relies not on its altitude but on its political status. 

Written by Oiwan Lam