Three Gorges dam a time bomb, reports Asiaweek

Dec. 8, 2000 – The Hong Kong-based Asiaweek reports that China’s Three Gorges dam is a time bomb with problems to match its colossal girth, in a recent review of the troubled $25-billion project. Yet, despite the dam’s environmental and technical drawbacks, and that it is a breeding ground for corruption and will displace 1.2 million people, the project is a matter of political face for China, and nothing will be allowed to stand in its way, Asiaweek concludes. China’s normally conservative Strategy and Management journal predicts the dam site will become a hotbed for chaos throughout the first half of the 21st century. Notes the journal, if resettlement problems continue to intensify, “those not peacefully resettled could turn into an explosive social problem.”

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Three Gorges Probe welcomes submissions. However, it is not a forum for political debate. Rather, Three Gorges Probe is dedicated to covering the scientific, technical, economic, social, and environmental ramifications of completing the Three Gorges Project, as well as the alternatives to the dam.

Publisher: Patricia Adams
Executive Editor: Mu Lan
Assistant Editor: Lisa Peryman

December 11, 2000
ISSN 1481-0913