(April 16, 2010) This is a summary of an article originally published April 12, 2010 in the Outlook Weekly (Liaowang xinwen zhoukan). After waiting for more than two months, and making three trips seeking a reply from the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court, Ren Xinghui finally got a clear answer. On April 8, Ren Xinghui was told the Court had decided not to accept his lawsuit and that a written order would be sent him within seven days.
‘Quiet corruption’?: The World Bank on Africa
(April 15, 2010) The ‘Africa Development Indicators 2010’ report on ‘quiet corruption’ is one more example of the World Bank’s distractive politics. Distractive because it seeks, wittingly or unwittingly, to sidetrack issues that are fundamental to understanding the continuing poverty and underdevelopment of Africa. Distractive also because it seeks, probably consciously and purposely, to exonerate the World Bank from its own role in perpetuating Africa’s mal-development.
Mounting tensions over the Mekong river
(April 15, 2010) Countries bordering the Mekong River have let the criticism flow unimpeded over China’s hydroelectric power expansion.
Beijing’s water consumption defies ongoing drought
(April 7, 2010) The number of businesses in Beijing that are using water lavishly continues to grow, despite a decades-long drought and a stressed watershed, say Chinese environmental researchers in a recent report.
Flushing it all away: Residents in Beijing caught wasting water
(April 1, 2010) Residents in drought-stricken Beijing are, literally, flushing their water resources away.
Beijing’s never-ending thirst
(April 14, 2010) Ongoing delays to the South-North Water Diversion Project will defer the delivery of one billion cubic meters of water annually over the next four years to Beijing. Now, a number of analysts in Beijing are offering suggestions on how the city should cope with its water crisis. Wang Jian And Liu Qiong, two Beijing-based water experts, say the city must ease the subsidies for water consumption to ensure that the price reflects its true cost, while implementing policies that promote the recycling of water and efficient use.
Gasping for air: Carbon markets stumble, again
(April 13, 2010) To save the planet from man-made global warming, the EU created a cap-and-trade system under which polluters can buy ever- diminishing rights to emit CO2. That “market,” created by regulatory fiat to satisfy the Kyoto Protocol, has been up and running since 2006. But last month, Hungary brought Europe’s carbon market to its knees. How? It sold “used” or “spent” carbon credits that found their way back onto the market, casting doubt on the authenticity of all credits.
How will Beijing cope with the delay of China’s south-to-north water diversion project?
(April 12, 2010) According to the original plan, one billion cubic meters of water was to be taken from the Yangtze River every year and diverted to thirsty Beijing through the central canal of the massive South-North Water Diversion Project.
Cleanup Commences on Rubbish Clogged Three Gorges Dam
(April 11, 2010) The large amounts of floating garbage brought by the summer floods which had accumulated at China’s Three Gorges Dam has reportedly been cleared to ensure the normal operation of its generators and system of boat channels, the local authorities said.
Dams portend grim future for Mekong Delta: experts
(April 9, 2010) Critics slam China’s hegemonic behavior in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
How U.S. policy affects other countries’ tax rates
(April 7, 2010) According to Probe International, an independent advocacy group, foreign aid provides financially unsound countries with a crutch – and gives little incentive for reform as long as free money is flowing in from other parts of the world.
The next big idea in conservation: Improving dams for nature and people
(April 6, 2010) Dams block the fluid highways used by migrating fish, and rearrange natural water-flow patterns that have choreographed aquatic life cycles for millennia. Analogs to human health are instructive: While water pollution is as harmful as excessive cholesterol in a bloodstream, the construction of dams has in many rivers been as fatal as cardiac arrest.
Worries related to China’s “Going Out”
(April 5, 2010) In recent years China has become a regional leader in Southeast Asia for the financing of major infrastructure projects, particularly dams—overtaking traditional sources like the World Bank. But China is quickly learning that the rules of investment outside its borders are drastically different than those within it. This report by Wu Aoqi, a researcher based in Beijing, analyzes a number of problems facing both Chinese firms and the central government as they pursue a “going out” policy.
China rejects Mekong River dam criticism
(April 5, 2010) China has rejected claims that its dams on the Mekong River are to blame for record low water levels in downstream nations.
Corruption biting the hand that feeds: food aid industry facing tough questions
(April 5, 2010) The food aid industry is facing a number of scandals and criticisms that are providing fresh evidence that not only does food aid hurt Third World farmers, it is also a revenue source for corrupt politicians and terrorists.
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