(May 3, 2000) Article excerpt: …The dam’s most outspoken opponent is Dai Qing, a journalist turned activist whose book Yangtze! Yangtze!, which argued that the dam is a waste of money and an environment disaster, brought her 10 months in a maximum security jail.
Foreign estimates of Three Gorges costs ‘wrong’, official
Li Yongan, general manager of the company building the dam, outlined how the project would come in under budget in response to foreign news reports of ‘Western estimates’ that put the cost at between US$40 billion and US$50 billion.
Huge funds spent to clear garbage threatening Three Gorges Dam
China spends 10 million yuan (US$1.3 million) a year to prevent floating garbage from piling up behind the Three Gorges dam, project officials say.
Chinese engineers and scientists urge leadership to change Three Gorges dam operating plan
(April 26, 2000) Reservoir Level Should Be Kept Low to Reduce Resettlement and Navigation Problems, Experts Warn
Two German companies join in designing Three Gorges shiplift
Keep the doors to China wide open
(April 20, 2000) PI Fellow and Chinese environmentalist Dai Qing argues for permanent, normal trade status to promote freedom in China.
Chinese gov’t response to Three Gorges dam petition
(April 17, 2000) Official Response to Experts’ Three Gorges Dam Petition
Three Gorges Project benefits from opinions of opponents
“Fill a lake, start an earthquake”: Damming and Reservoir-Induced Seismicity
(April 04, 2000) A paper by Heather Gingerich, a medical geologist who specializes in hydrogeochemistry and the director of the Canadian chapter of the International Medical Geology Association, detailing evidence in support […]
No cracks detected in Three Gorges southern dam: expert
(April 3, 2000) Pan, academician of both Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the experts panel for the Three Gorges project revealed that some cracks have been detected on the surface of the northern-bank dam section, and they have been treated properly.
PRESS RELEASE Three Gorges executive fired for malfeasance
(March 24, 2000) State auditors unravel Three Gorges web of corruption – A top executive with the largest Three Gorges dam subcontractor was fired in January for his decision to buy second-hand, dilapidated construction machinery to build the world’s largest hydrodam.
Chinese official sentenced to death for stealing resettlement funds
(March 24, 2000) Chongqing city has handed down the first dealth penalty in connection with Three Gorges corruption, a Singapore-based newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao, reported on March 11.
News briefs
Hallmark dam completed on Yangtze River
(March 19, 2000) Construction crews finished the main wall of the world’s largest hydroelectic dam on Saturday, Xinhua News Agency reported. After 13 years of construction, the structure of the 185-meter-high (607 feet), 2,309-meter-long (1.4-mile-long) dam across the Yangtze River was completed at around 2 pm on Saturday.
China completes dam of world’s largest hydroelectric project
(March 10, 2000) ‘Many people have known something is wrong with the project, but few have dared to speak up,’ high-profile dam opponent Dai Qing wrote on Three Gorges Probe.


