Probe International

(July 14, 2002) ‘The move is seen as a bid for accountability. One observer says the crisis points up the nation’s bureaucratic paralysis during emergencies.’

(July 13, 2002) The resignation of Xie Zhenhua, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), following a chemical spill that has seriously polluted the Songhua River, is a fresh warning to Chinese officials who think they can get away with blunders or mismanagement.

(July 9, 2002) An official who stole 2.81 million yuan (US$350,000) of the Three Gorges Reservoir Project resettlement fund has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.

(July 6, 2002) Constructing energy-efficient buildings could, by 2020, reduce China’s energy consumption for air-conditioning by the equivalent of 4.5 times the output of the Three Gorges dam, economists forecast.

(July 1, 2002) ‘Heads are rolling in the wake of the Harbin toxic spill, but it’s not Big Industry that’s getting the chop.’

(June 12, 2002) Chinese authorities are investigating the death of a deputy mayor who had told reporters there was no pollution from a chemical plant blast that poisoned a river.

(June 4, 2002) Thousands of citizens who petition Chinese authorities for the redress of grievances are attacked, beaten, threatened and intimidated, Human Rights Watch says in a new report.

(June 3, 2002) China will start construction this month on the Xiluodu dam on the Jinsha River [upper Yangtze], after the project was frozen at the start of the year over environmental concerns.

(November 1, 1991)View speech

(October 18, 2001) ‘The most urgent task for us is to check water pollution to ensure the safety of drinking water, and we must win the battle,’ says SEPA director Zhou Shengxian.

(October 12, 2001) China announces ‘concrete measures that will transform the light rain of the past into a storm of environmental protection that will wipe out serious polluters,’ China Daily reports.

(August 18, 2001) China announced a plan Wednesday to combat widespread pollution and leave a better environment for future generations, citing the need to stave off possible social instability.

(July 12, 2001) Chinese officials frequently pledge tighter regulations and tougher punishments to try to curb pollution, but analysts are hopeful that the document issued Wednesday by the State Council will carry more weight.

(July 1, 2001) A massive hydroelectric scheme in western China has left locals poor and discontented, a researcher at an official think-tank said, casting doubt on official promises that the country’s dams bring prosperity.

(June 30, 2001) Local governments in China are investing heavily in trophy construction projects while neglecting a basic need for environmental infrastructure such as wastewater treatment systems, a senior Chinese official said.