Probe International

(June 6, 2001) A spill from a power plant on the Yuexi River has disrupted the water supply to more than 20,000 residents of Guanyin town.

(June 5, 2001) The general manager of a chemical company accused of leaking 2,000 tons of alkaline wastewater into a river in Shaanxi province has been removed from his post

(April 11, 2001) Experts confirmed that the micro-organism that was found in a large quantity near the water source of the city of Mudanjiang in northeast China is an aquatic fungus that indicates degraded water conditions.

(April 9, 2001) ‘More should be included, such as citizens’ rights to participate in law-making, policy-making and law-enforcement,’ China Daily says in a commentary on SEPA’s guidelines on public participation in environmental impact assessments.

(April 6, 2001) ‘Some of the great rivers of the world are disappearing: the Nile in Egypt, the Yellow River in China, the Indus in Pakistan, the Colorado and Rio Grande in the US …. Few of us realise how much water it takes to get us through the day.’

(February 27, 2006) ‘All local policies and regulations that violate national environmental protection laws and regulations must be rescinded,’ says a joint statement by China’s environmental watchdog SEPA and the Ministry of Supervision.

(March 27, 2001) The world’s rivers are drying up. Fred Pearce has been on a five-year journey across the planet to find out why.

(March 26, 2001) Lu Hongwen, a provincial agricultural official in Heilongjiang, said irrational land development, neglect of water and soil conservation, and overcultivation have accelerated the deterioration of the environment in northeast China.

(June 1, 2002) China plans a nationwide check of environmental standards at factories lining its rivers, after the blast at a chemical plant in the northeast that poisoned drinking water for millions.

(May 28, 2002) ‘Big or medium-sized enterprises located along major rivers or their tributaries, especially the chemical plants at the upper reaches of drinking water sources, are major inspection spots,’ China’s environmental protection agency says.

(May 26, 2002) ‘We didn’t expect the police would hurt us so when they fired warning shots in the air, nobody dispersed. Even when they used tear gas, people wouldn’t withdraw. So then they used real bullets. I saw people get shot,’ a witness said.

(May 24, 2002) ‘The push to boost public participation is the latest of SEPA’s efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of China’s EIA law.’

(May 23, 2002) Residents of Dongzhou village in Guangdong province say authorities killed up to 20 people Tuesday when they fired on demonstrators protesting inadequate compensation payments for land taken for a power plant.

(May 22, 2002) Twenty business owners from Harbin are planning to sue the state-owned chemical company blamed for poisoning the city’s water supply.

(May 17, 2002) George Friedman writers that ‘massive social dislocation – including theft of land – is embedded in the Chinese system. The flashpoint is the interface between the rapidly spreading industrial plants and the farmers who own the land.’