Is China’s hydropower safe? Bloomberg’s Adam Minter cites Probe International’s investigations into the link between China’s dam-building and the surge in earthquakes.
Other News Sources
Yunnan earthquake raises fears on hydropower projects
Geologists express concerns that massive hydropower construction in the region may have contributed to seismic activity. Beijing-based media group, Caixin, interviews Chinese geologist Fan Xiao whose research supports a link between Yunnan’s 6.5-magnitude earthquake in early August and the filling of dam reservoirs in the area.
China Three Gorges subsidiary banned from World Bank projects
The World Bank bars China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG), from its projects for three years for misconduct in Africa and Southeast Asia. South China Morning Post reports.
Landslide destroys dam in Three Gorges region
Geologists predict more frequent catastrophes in China’s Three Gorges Dam region, after landslides wipe out a hydropower plant. Fan Xiao and Yang Yong, the authors of several reports for Probe International, speak to thethirdpole.net about a disaster-prone region made more perilous by intensive hydropower development and call for new risk assessments to be carried out.
“Daddy’s ‘friends’ are actually plainclothes cops”
Zeng Jinyan, the wife of Hu Jia, one of China’s best-known human rights activists, shares her personal experience of the high cost of political expression in China.
Chinese official disputes report linking fatal earthquake in Ludian and filling of reservoirs
Analysis of rough data by Chinese geologist Fan Xiao, cited by the prominent scientific journal Nature, connects heightened seismic activity to August’s Ludian earthquake.
Chinese data hint at trigger for fatal quake
Seismic activity started to rise just as two giant reservoirs on the upper Yangtze were being filled with water. Nature magazine reports on the latest findings by Chinese geologist Fan Xiao, published by Probe International, on the link between mega-dams and seismic activity in China’s southwestern region.
China’s environmental crisis: Is there a way out?
China’s environmental crisis is the subject of an upcoming international symposium later this month, presented by the Riley Institute at Furman University and the Furman Department of Asian Studies. Probe International’s Patricia Adams will give the closing address on “Saving China’s Environment: Give Power to the People”.
China is being forced to choose between air pollution and deadly earthquakes
If the findings of Chinese geologist and environmentalist Fan Xiao – and the author of several reports for Probe International – are accurate, they raise a serious question. This report by Quartz, a business news site from Atlantic Media, looks at some recent quakes in China linked to the filling of hydro-dam reservoirs.
‘Don’t aim at fame; just be a good, compassionate person’
The environmental awareness of Chinese people has changed dramatically in the 25 years since her path-breaking book, Yangtze! Yangtze! on the environmental and social effects of China’s Three Gorges Dam, was published. Now, renowned journalist, author, activist and Probe International Fellow and correspondent, Dai Qing, sits down with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) for a look back on her experiences as a veteran reporter and the lessons of value she has learned along the way.
China’s Lacang River dams – impacts already ‘extensive’
Already, newly completed cascade dams along China’s Lancang River are altering the river’s hydrological regime and sediment flow, blocking fish migration and posing a risk to food security and livelihoods. As more cascade dams roll out along the Lancang, International Rivers offers a better understanding through their research of the environmental impacts of current development and what further impacts can be expected as more projects come online.
Yunnan earthquake linked to dam-building, says Chinese geologist
The 6.5-magnitude earthquake that devastated southwestern China’s Yunnan Province on August 3 and killed nearly 600 is linked to the world’s largest and most intensive dam-building scheme on the Jinsha River, says renowned, independent geologist-explorer, Yang Yong.
China quake reignites debate on country’s rush to build large dams
“Why do earthquakes keep happening in that area?” In the wake of China’s 6.1 magnitude quake in Yunnan Province and a number of smaller quakes in the region, questions are once again being asked about the country’s rush to build big dams in its southwestern mountains, an area already vulnerable to seismic hazard.
Education scam: Ghost teachers from ghost schools receive ghost training
A CIDA-funded teacher-training project based in Pakistan’s Sindh province has been revealed as nothing more than a cash cow by a former project leader who claims teacher training took place only on paper and that while those registered were often unaware they were signed up to the programme, their training expenses were pocketed by officials.
The biggest victim of the Three Gorges Dam: Shanghai?
Shanghai will suffer Three Gorges Dam impacts the most, says report.


