Xi Jinping should take the Zhengzhou floods as a warning from China’s history | Philip Ball

The country's perilous waters have made or broken past leaders. The climate crisis will only make things worse

The footage of a torrent of muddy water engulfing the broad thoroughfares of Zhengzhou, China, may look like a scene from an apocalyptic sci-fi movie. But for China's leaders, these images speak not only to a dystopian future but also to the struggles of the past - and to the issue of the Chinese Communist party's mandate to rule.

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