(March 14, 2002) Prime Minister Wen Jiabao says land grabs by officials eager to cash in on China’s booming economy are provoking mass unrest in the countryside and amount to a ‘historic error’ that could threaten national stability.
Is “keeping in step with the Party” good for the environment?
(March 13, 2002) Acclaimed environmental journalist Dai Qing looks back at some key moments in the political history of the Three Gorges dam – and sees a glimmer of hope ahead.
Migrant leaders languish in jail, one year on
(March 12, 2002) Four men detained for attempting to petition authorities in Beijing about corruption in the Three Gorges resettlement operation remain in prison, one year after their arrest.
NPC delegate calls for law on resettlement
A delegate to the National People’s Congress being held in Beijing has proposed that rules governing dam-related resettlement schemes should be given the force of law.
China’s rivers to be dammed for evermore
(March 12, 2002) ‘Environmentalists call the Three Rivers project an assault on the last frontier of China’s wild countryside, in a debate that has broken new ground by being held largely in public.’
China land grabs fuelling unrest, says premier
(March 11, 2002) Premier Wen Jiabao has said the continued ‘reckless occupation’ of farmland would ‘create large numbers of landless farmers and present a grave problem for the sustainable development and stability of the countryside and whole economy and society.’
Landslide threatens new town of 10,000 people
(March 6, 2002) A major landslide threatens to submerge a new town built to house people who have been moved to make way for the dam, the Chongqing Morning Post reports.
Five workers die in dam-site accident
(March 6, 2002) Five workers were killed yesterday morning in an accident at the Three Gorges dam site, China News Service (Zhongguo xinwen she) reported today.
Undaunted by a critical barrage
(March 4, 2002) “We are not blindly opposed to dams,” says activist Wang Yongchen. She just wants a fair decision-making process on projects.
Land seizures threaten social stability, warns China’s leader
(March 3, 2002) A day after the government released statistics showing an average of more than 230 demonstrations every day last year, state media published a grim warning from the prime minister, who is struggling to curb local governments’ land-grabbing instincts.
Study casts light on hidden problems of resettlement
Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers who tracked farmers affected by the Three Gorges resettlement say that most of those migrants are significantly less well off than they were before.
Taking up the call…improving Seismic dam safety.
(March 1, 2002) We cannot ignore the call for increasing the safety of existing dam projects, says Martin Wieland, chairman of ICOLD’s Committee on Seismic Aspects of Dam Design. If we do, opponents of new dams will use concerns over earthquake safety to their advantage.
Poll measures depth of feeling in China about loss of relics
One of China’s most popular Web sites recently posted a special issue on the frantic last-ditch effort to salvage a fraction of the historic sites and cultural relics that will be inundated next year when the Three Gorges reservoir is filled.
Landslides could worsen with global warming: U.N.
(February 28, 2002) In poor nations, many people are forced to live on unstable hillsides. ‘Late arrivals are always settling in the most dangerous land,’ says Janos Bogardi, director of the U.N. University Institute for Environment and Human Security.
China grasps for green
(February 26, 2002) For once, activists and the Party seem to have the same goal: to tackle China’s appalling environmental record. But can they get along enough to do some good?
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
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