(May 3, 2009) On October 28, 1984, the head of Shanyang township, Yang Yongquan, was riding his bike over the bridge leading to the Dahe station when his way was suddenly blocked by a man in his 60s.
Chapter 6: In search of an honest judge
(May 3, 2009)
After the county and prefecture governments made it clear that local Shanyang cadres had not, in their view, committed any crimes of corruption, the villagers had to decide how to proceed. According to the regulations pertaining to China’s shangfang [appeals] system, petitioners were allowed to appeal to a higher level than the prefecture government – the provincial authorities. But Tailor Wang and the other "elite" of the affected people decided to go to the highest authorities of all, the top leaders in Beijing, by way of the provincial capital.
Chapter 5: Bending the rules
(May 3, 2009)
[quote] "Many problems have been solved to date but there are still problems left over from history. There is therefore a need to make every effort to address the masses’ problems according to central government policies and local conditions. When dealing with the problems, do whatever you can to fix them, by stages and in batches. When problems remain unresolved, the masses will persist in their appeals to higher authorities. And if the hole in the dyke becomes too big, the flood of appeals will cause the entire structure to collapse, swamping higher authorities.
Chapter 4: A crowing rooster and the lonely ghosts
(May 3, 2009)
[quote]A crowing rooster (jiao ji gong) refers to 1) a person who deliberately makes trouble or 2) a person who is always keen to complain.
— Quoted from "A glossary of local dialects in Yunyang county," Yunyang County Annals[/quote]
Chapter 3: A flood of troubles
(May 3, 2009)
[quote]The new dam shines like a bright pearl,
Its power sent everywhere.
But we peasants suffered when the floods came
And washed away our land.
The prefecture issued documents on the problem,
The hydro station gave money to help us.
But corrupt, greedy officials stole the funds,
Leaving victims of the disaster mired in misery.
– Folk song for the flood victims[/quote]
Chapter 2: Down to the grassroots in Shanyang
(May 3, 2009)
"A huge rock lies across the heart of the river like a dragon,
The sound of waves can be heard night after night.
Can we ask what you are complaining about,
And why the resentment has not waned for thousands of years?"
– Dragon Back and Waves in the Night, by Qing dynasty poet Li Yingfa
Chapter 1: Leftover problems of the Dahe Dam
(May 3, 2009)
"Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the state has allocated a great deal of money to build more than 10 hydropower dams in Sichuan province, and the number of affected people has now reached 224,000. For a long time, problems have lingered as a consequence of dam construction, largely due to a low standard of compensation and shortage of available land in the resettlement zones.
Introduction
(May 3, 2009) By: Dai Qing – Strange and ridiculous things can happen in today’s China, and here is a good example. A purely academic work, a sociological study of the impacts on about 20,000 people of a small dam built 30 years ago in southwest China, was published in a modest print run of 7,000 copies as part of the Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series and, within six months, was banned by the Chinese government.
The Story of the Dahe Dam
(May 3, 2009)
Many of the farmers uprooted for the Dahe dam, built 30 years ago on a Yangtze tributary in what is now Chongqing municipality, are being moved again for the Three Gorges project. "To learn more about what goes on behind the scenes in China, this book about the ruinous consequences of one small dam is an excellent place to start," Dai Qing writes in her introduction to the translation of this important work by sociologist Ying Xing. The original Chinese version of the book, published under the title Dahe yimin shangfangde gushi (A Tale of Migrants Displaced by the Dahe Dam), was banned in China in 2002, but is available on our Chinese site. The on-line publication and translation of this book have been made possible by the Open Society Institute.
Dissident At Large
(May 7, 2009) From Red Princess to Communist spy to death-row dissident, China’s Dai Qing has always gone her own way, enraging Communists and democrats alike. On a recent trip to Canada, China’s most famous iconoclast tells Kelly Patterson her story.
China’s secret death toll
(April 25, 2009) Nearly a year after the deadly earthquake, relatives and others who ask questions are harassed, spied upon and arrested.
Top fisheries scientist wants upper Yangtze dams scrapped
(April 24, 2009) One of China’s top fisheries scientists has warned that further dam construction on the upper Yangtze will drive the region’s rare fish to extinction. Professor Cao Wenxuan, a Sichuan native and senior researcher at the Wuhan-based Institute of Hydrobiology, says government officials ‘know only how to eat the fish and don’t bother about protecting them.’ He wants the government to scrap its plans for more dams and remove those dams already under construction on the upper Yangtze.
Earthquakes too mysterious to predict
(April 21, 2009) According to an article in the April 13th edition of The New York Times, the ability to determine in advance the location, timing or intensity of a seismic event is beyond the abilities of modern science. Though that hasn’t stopped scientists from trying.
China says planning more dams on troubled Yangtze
(April 21, 2009) China will build at least 20 more reservoirs or hydroelectric projects in the Yangtze river system by 2020, the government said Tuesday, despite growing concerns over dam construction there.
Three Gorges reservoir sees 166 geo-disasters since last September
(April 17, 2009) The rise and fall of the water level in the Three Gorges reservoir has triggered 166 geological hazards and forced 28,600 people to relocate in Chongqing Municipality since last September, local officials said.
Probe International 