March 11, 2008
In an interview with the London-based Financial Times, An Qingyuan, a former communist party chief, said the diversion of water to Beijing for the Olympics and for big hydropower projects threatens the lives of millions of peasant farmers in China’s north-western provinces.
“In a critical tone seldom heard from Chinese officials, Mr. An called on Beijing to provide compensation to the provinces that have been told to pump their cleanest water to the capital in order to ensure potable supplies during the Olympics . . . He called on the central government to remove hydropower projects on the Yellow River—particularly the Sanmenxia Dam built in the late 1950s—which he blamed for extreme flooding and water pollution and dwindling supplies.”
Categories: Beijing Water, South-North Water Diversion Project


