(November 8, 2002) This week the world took note, as jubilant Chinese officials looked on while a convoy of trucks dumped the last of the boulders that would finally tame the once mighty Yangtze to make way for the country’s monumental Three Gorges dam.
Thailand and Myanmar to sign MOU on hydroelectric dams
China has nearly completed the Three Gorges dam along the Yangtze River, so equipment can be moved for use at the Salween dams project [in Burma],’ the president of the Thai utility EGAT is quoted as saying.
Ancient ‘Poets’ Town’ to be destroyed
Demolition authorities plan to blast what remains of the ancient town of Fengjie to clear the area for construction of the Three Gorges dam reservoir.
Chongqing may give up on Yangtze as drinking-water source
(October 17, 2002) As concern mounts about pollution in the future Three Gorges reservoir, Chongqing appears to be considering the idea of abandoning the Yangtze River altogether as a source of drinking water. Officials are studying the feasibility of drawing cleaner supplies from smaller rivers in the vicinity, such as the Qi, Wubu and Hou, the Chongqing Morning Post (Chongqing chenbao) reported Oct. 10.
Protests halt vital wastewater-treatment project in Chongqing
Work on a wastewater-treatment system that must be finished before the Three Gorges reservoir is filled next year has been halted because of angry protests by citizens demanding higher compensation, the Chongqing Morning Post reports.
Fatal accident, forced eviction as resettlement drive speeds up
Chinese media report a fatal accident, a forced eviction – and an official’s chilling threat that next year floodwater could be used to oust reluctant migrants.
Who wants this dam anyway?
(September 18, 2002) ‘No matter how severely the Yangtze River is damaged, and no matter how miserable local people’s lives become as a result, these high-level backers of the dam will be quite unscathed,’ says celebrated environmental journalist Dai Qing.
Enterprises called to frontline of green battle
(September 13, 2002) ‘Environmentalist Yu Xiaogang and his Green Watershed group, based in Kunming and famed for its opposition to dams on the Nu River, were awarded this year’s top prize.
Green policies, not giant dam, help reduce Yangtze flood toll
Many experts say the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze withstood this summer’s floods relatively well, thanks to ‘greener’ policies on the floodplain promoted since 1998 by Premier Zhu Rongji.
Flood types on the Yangtze River
(September 12, 2002) The big dam will be ‘totally useless’ in the face of the most common type of Yangtze flood, a senior Chinese Academy of Sciences researcher writes.
Three Gorges dam doubts all water under the bridge
(September 11, 2002) China Yangtze Power’s Zhang Dingming says in an interview that the operation of the hydropower plant points to success on a grand scale.
Three Gorges just Act One in the drive to harness nature
(September 11, 2002) Even before all the generators at the Three Gorges dam come into operation, Chinese planners are furiously mapping out numerous dams along some of the biggest rivers in the southwestern part of the country.
Hated, feted but still awesome
(September 11, 2002) ‘The sheer size of the [Three Gorges] dam has fuelled decades of controversy. … Environmentalist and writer Dai Qing has not relaxed her condemnation of the project.’
Taiwan ‘conducts computer-simulated attack on the dam’
(September 4, 2002) Amid growing tensions with Taiwan, China has revealed that it has built a missile defence shield to protect the Three Gorges dam from the threat of military attack.
Dying to breathe
(August 29, 2002) As pollution worsens in China, Beijing is under pressure to develop sources of renewable energy. Unfortunately, it includes large-scale hydropower in that category despite the environmental damage caused by big dams.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
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