(January 18, 2000) China News Agency reported on January 12 that the Three Gorges dam has cost the Chinese government $5.65 billion (all figures in U.S. dollars) since construction began in 1993.

(February 21, 2000) The Chinese corporation in charge of building the massive Three Gorges dam has already started building another giant dam on a downstream tributary and has plans for another two dams upstream.

(February 21, 2000) China’s State Auditing Administration has revealed that local officials have embezzled about $57.7 million (all figures in U.S. dollars) in Three Gorges resettlement funds. This graft represents almost 12 percent of the total $487.8 million that the central government has allocated for relocating the 1.2 million people who will be flooded out of the Three Gorges area if dam construction continues as planned.

(March 24, 2000) The official Chinese media has reported another Three Gorges corruption scandal, this time linked to top executives at the companies responsible for building the world’s largest hydrodam.

(May 25, 2000) Racked by allegations of mismanagement and corruption, scandal surrounds China’s Three Gorges Dam project once again following two recent exposés involving senior officials and vast sums of missing project funds.

(June 16, 2000) A petition to delay the Three Gorges dam project earlier this year drew a firm response from Chinese leaders, quick to assure critics the scandal-plagued project was “progressing smoothly” and would go ahead as planned.

(June 19, 2000) Financial and technical difficulties are not enough to dampen official zeal for hydroelectric projects.

(July 17, 2000) Chinese experts urge Premier Zhu Rongji to stick to initial operating plan.

(October 12, 2000)

(1) Anger at dam corruption growing
(2) Most farmers to stay near Three Gorges
(3) Three Gorges officials arrested for smuggling construction equipment
(4) Irregularities in the Three Gorges bidding procedures

(October 24, 2000)

(1) Work at Three Gorges dam resumes
(2) Victim’s widow claims US$420,000 compensation for husband’s death at Three Gorges dam site
(3) Ministry of Water Resources accused of embezzling US$50-million

(October 30, 2000)

(1) China proposes nuclear blasts to build world’s largest hydro project
(2) Three Gorges dam environmentally friendly, officials say

(October 31, 2000) This detailed briefing on the controversial Three Gorges dam project by a leading source of China business news and analysis includes references to Probe International’s analysis of the dam’s uncertainty in China’s electricity market.

(November 3, 2000)

(1) Three Gorges dam officials deny problems
(2) No customers for Xiaolangdi dam

(November 6, 2000) The majority of migrants displaced by China’s Three Gorges dam project have suffered a decline in well-being and economic circumstances, according to a study of migrant resettlement patterns released this month.

(November 8, 2000) Chinese officials deny planning nuclear blasts to build giant hydro project

Hong Kong’s Mingpao newspaper reports that Chinese Ministry of Water Resources official, Li Linsheng, strongly denies a Sunday Telegraph report claiming that China is planning nuclear blasts to build a massive hydroelectricity project and water diversion scheme in Tibet.