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Category Archives: Three Gorges
Funds misused in Three Gorges Project
(June 8, 2013) Funds intended for Three Gorges migrants were misappropriated while funds for geological disaster prevention and ecological protection were mismanaged, says China’s National Audit Office. Continue reading
Posted in Dams and Earthquakes, Three Gorges, Three Gorges Probe
Tagged Three Gorges, Migrants, Corruption, RIS, geological problems, audit
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Could dams be causing China’s earthquakes?
(April 24, 2013) Another article exploring the brewing debate over the cause or causes of the April 20 Lushan earthquake reports that the quake may have been an aftershock of Sichuan’s 2008 earthquake disaster, which some experts believe was triggered by the Zipingpu Dam reservoir. This issue of “reservoir-induced seismicity” is fast gaining attention as China, the most dammed nation in the world, is particularly at risk to the phenomenon. A 2011 Chinese study, for example, found China’s massive Three Gorges Dam had triggered around 3,000 earthquakes and numerous landslides in the reservoir region, representing a 30-fold increase in seismic activity in the area. Continue reading
Cyberwar and secrecy threaten China’s dams
(March 12, 2013) China may be the world’s biggest cyberspace aggressor, but security specialists say China’s computer-controlled infrastructure is more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and to malfunctioning domestic software than are Western systems. Read Patricia Adams’ piece in the Huffington Post on why China’s dams are vulnerable to both. Continue reading
Too dam much
(February 14, 2013) A dramatic push by China’s new leadership to revive a political passion for large dam projects has ignited concerns for neighbouring countries and environmentalists. Continue reading
Posted in China Energy Industry, China's Dams, Chinese Environmentalists, Dams and Earthquakes, RIS, Three Gorges, Three Gorges Probe, Zipingpu
Tagged Brahmaputra river, China’s energy development plan for 2011-15, concerns for neighbouring countries, Lancang-Mekong River, Nu River, renewed dam-building frenzy, Yarlung Zangbo River
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Quake leaves Three Gorges Dam unfazed as reservoir reaches maximum capacity
(November 1, 2012) China’s Three Gorges Dam was not affected by a minor earthquake that struck early Wednesday in Hubei province, say officials, one day after the mega-dam’s mega-reservoir was filled to maximum capacity for the third time since its construction. Continue reading
Whitewashing the Three Gorges Dam
(October 15, 2012) Lauded by Chinese officialdom as a symbol of its growing might, the Three Gorges Dam had already been in operation for eight years when the Three Gorges Corporation issued its first-ever corporate social responsibility report. The release of the CSR report coincided with a wave of heightened concern surrounding the dam’s failings and impacts, and a rare admission by China’s State Council that all was not well with the jewel in its crown of modernity. A commentary by Li Tie at the time, published by China’s respected South Weekend, described the Corporation’s document as awash in insipid content” and exactly not what the public needed, which was honesty. Li even went so far as to say reports that did not respond honestly to widespread concerns, in effect, posed a threat to the nation’s social stability, leaving Chinese citizens more likely to place their faith in the country’s rumor mill than official documents they could not trust. Li’s misgivings appear to have only gained in resonance this year, as China’s recent summer of protest bears out. Continue reading
