The Three Gorges dam will create a reservoir massive enough to raise temperatures and force crop changes in nearby areas, a government meteorologist predicts.
Experts call for better dam quality
The Three Gorges Dam must stand the test of time with aplomb for generations to come, according to China’s top advisory body seeking to improve the world’s largest hydroelectric project’s quality control.
‘Cracks’ in China’s Three Gorges dam
(January 30, 2006) A senior Chinese official says cracks have appeared in the controversial Three Gorges hydroelectric dam being built on the Yangtze river.
Blighted village raises fears about south-north water scheme
(January 29, 2006) A cancer cluster that has been linked to water pollution in a village downstream of the Danjiangkou dam in Hubei province highlights the human misery caused by China’s poisoned rivers.
Chinese 1st quarter GDP up 7.6 per cent
China’s finance minister warns that the government cannot go on indefinitely shelling out for big-ticket public works projects such as the Three Gorges dam.
Three Gorges dam project enters new phase
Xinhua reports on the 555 explosions that brought down the kilometre-long cofferdam in 18 seconds.
China’s Three Gorges dam developer switches to coal
(January 18, 2006) Earlier this year, China Yangtze Power Company, the listed arm of state-owned Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, announced plans to buy a string of coal-fired plants to reduce the company’s exposure to hydro risk.
Dam holds back rumours
Quality-control tests at the Three Gorges dam site have smashed rumours that poor construction and management loopholes have resulted in cracks, China Daily says.
World Bank says benefits of Chinese hydro dam ‘impossible to quantify’
(January 18, 2006) The World Bank has given China’s second-largest hydro project a satisfactory rating on the resettlement of 46,000 people, despite having no data to assess whether anyone is better or worse off.
Sacking of writer signals clampdown in Hong Kong
(January 16, 2006) Jasper Becker and his defenders say the former South China Morning Post reporter was the victim of a new climate of self-censorship as Beijing imposes the ‘correct attitude’ on the Hong Kong media.
Foreign capital key to China power drive
(January 16, 2006) Overseas power firms have long been wary of moving into China, largely due to a murky regulatory climate and inconsistent tariff scheme. But Beijing’s blueprint for market-oriented reform has aroused foreign investor interest, Reuters reports.
Chinese dam benefits ‘impossible to quantify’: World Bank
(January 16, 2006) The World Bank has given Ertan, China’s second-largest hydro project, a satisfactory rating on the resettlement of 46,000 people, despite having no data to assess whether anyone is better or worse off.
Tarnished Credit Suisse sings praises of ethics
In a report underscoring its aims to conduct ethical business, the Credit Suisse Group says it gives no direct financing to the Three Gorges dam project.
Wreckers devour China's dam towns
In the greatest peacetime ransacking in living memory, a horde of scavengers has fallen upon towns and villages that will vanish under water after the gargantuan Three Gorges dam begins to stem the Yangtze River’s flow next year.
Investment bank faces environmental, social test
As a top investment bank criticized for involvement in the Three Gorges dam prepares to unveil an environmental policy, activists wonder whether Morgan Stanley Dean Witter’s words will be turned into significant action.
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