Category: Probe International in the News

The Yangtze runs dry

(August 18, 2011) “The Yangtze River will run dry” because engineers have gone wild, building so many dams that the amount of water needed to fill all the reservoirs along the Yangtze would exceed the flow of the river. So says “A Mighty River Runs Dry,” a new study by geologist Fan Xiao of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau in China. Because there isn’t enough water in the Yangtze to fill all the dams to their designed capacity during the impoundment period each year, “an enormous waste of money” will result, with potentially staggering losses to China’s economy, 40 per cent of which comes from agriculture, fishing, industry and shipping along the Yangtze.

Face changing sea

(June 29, 2011) Rongcheng is one of China’s loveliest cities, surrounded by both the Yellow and Bhai seas. When writer Yang Furui pays a visit, he finds economic gains have taken a severe toll on not only Rongcheng’s seashore, but China’s southeastern shoreline in general.

China’s green rise

(June 8, 2011) Probe International is proud to launch Voices From China: a forum for Chinese citizens to give English readers insights into the reforms needed to turn China’s economy and environment around for the future health of the country and its people.

China warns of ‘urgent problems’ facing Three Gorges dam

(May 20, 2011) For years, officials focused on the dam’s achievements and tried to stifle domestic criticism of the project. As reality sets in, the government’s public analysis has become increasingly sober. But Probe International Fellow and longtime critic of the dam Dai Qing claims the government’s current efforts to ease the project’s risks are too late, if they’re sincerely meant at all: “The government built a dam but destroyed a river,” she says.