(August 9, 2012) A new book on human security and China features a chapter by Patricia Adams and Dai Qing of Probe International that asks ‘at what cost China’s rise?’. Dai Qing argues, at great cost.
(August 9, 2012) A new book on human security and China features a chapter by Patricia Adams and Dai Qing of Probe International that asks ‘at what cost China’s rise?’. Dai Qing argues, at great cost.
(October 22, 2011) The recent suspension of the Myitsone dam in Myanmar shows just how unpopular China’s international dam-builders are becoming. In recent years, China has built a spate of new hydropower projects on rivers outside its borders, without much concern for their ecological and economic impacts downstream. Myitsone is a sign of growing resistance to these projects.
Myanmar’s announced cancellation of the Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River has brought long-standing tensions with China into the open – including setting off conflicts with the Kachin Independence Organization in the north of the country. “It may be that the Myanmar government sees Chinese investment, in particular the Myitsone dam, as a destabilising force,” said Patricia Adams.
(October 8, 2011) The Burmese president announced that the controversial Chinese-financed Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River would be suspended. Now the Chinese government is threatening legal action if the rights and interests of its state enterprises aren’t protected.
(August 16, 2011) Burma’s pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has called for a reassessment of Burma’s massive 6,000 MW Irrawaddy Myitsone dam project.
(June 20, 2011) The practice of adding excessive water to cement – regarded as unsafe by the construction industry – was endemic in the building of Malaysia’s biggest dam, a new exposé claims.
(May 10, 2011) Much has been written on the downstream impact of China’s dams on the Lancang-Mekong River, which flows through or along the borders of five other countries after exiting China. Most of the discussion relates to the hydrological impact of impounding water in the eight dams along the mainstream Lancang Jiang in Yunnan Province.
(March 26, 2011) Several days ago, an acquaintance called to invite me to participate the next day in a panel discussion prepared by Deutsche Welle’s Amharic service program. The panel was to discuss about the Ethiopian Grand Millennium Dam (GMD). I was told that I was approached because of my training and practice in Water Resources Engineering.
(March 25, 2011) In an effort to reduce air pollution, the Chinese government has found a way to outsource its problem.
(March 23, 2011) Four years ago a World Bank report landed on the desk of the Chinese health ministry containing shocking statistics on pollution-related deaths in the country, so much so that Beijing promptly engineered the removal of a third of it over fears that the findings, if they went public, could spark “social unrest”.
(February 16, 2011) Members of the civil society and other concerned individuals will on Sunday, 20 February 2011 stage a peaceful protest march to petition the Chinese government against the involvement of several Chinese companies in the ongoing construction of the controversial and potentially devastating Ethiopian Gilgel Gibe III mega-dam.
(September 8, 2010) As China continues to invest in major infrastructure projects abroad, a new reports says it’s quickly learning that the rules outside of its borders aren’t the same as those within it, writes Brady Yauch.
(April 5, 2010) In recent years China has become a regional leader in Southeast Asia for the financing of major infrastructure projects, particularly dams—overtaking traditional sources like the World Bank. But China is quickly learning that the rules of investment outside its borders are drastically different than those within it. This report by Wu Aoqi, a researcher based in Beijing, analyzes a number of problems facing both Chinese firms and the central government as they pursue a “going out” policy.
(November 9, 2009) China’s prime minister said his country will give $10 billion in loans to African countries without any political strings attached.
(October 29, 2008) Sinohydro, the company that helped build China’s massive Three Gorges dam, has requested political risk insurance from the World Bank’s investment guarantee agency (MIGA) for the Nam Ngum 5 hydro project it is building in neighbouring Lao PDR.