CHINESE IMPERIALISM: Can the Land of a Million Elephants Survive the Belt and Road? “Chinese-funded projects in Laos could hasten the eradication of the elephant population.”

Without active human intervention, Laos will have no more elephants by 2030. Indeed, with BRI road and railway construction steaming ahead, we may see the total extinction of native elephants in Laos before 2030. At present it seems that attempts to halt BRI infrastructure roll out in Laos are futile. The perceived economic growth potential is too tempting for “least developed” Laos to pass up, and there is simply too much money to be made by state and corporate cronies. Many people across the country have never seen a train, let alone a high-speed train, and there is much excitement about what the future holds.

Weird that I haven’t heard anything from Western environmentalists about this.