Probe International

(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.’

(May 14, 2002) The Three Gorges Project Corp. announces that work will begin in March on the ‘gigantic’ Xiangjiaba dam on the Jinsha (upper Yangtze).

(May 13, 2002) A number of Chinese intellectuals have written an open letter condemning the shooting of villagers who were protesting the seizure of land for a power plant in Guangdong province.

(December 13, 2005) Construction of the Pubugou dam on the Dadu River resumed recently after being halted over deadly clashes last year. Up to 100,000 people will be displaced for the project by August, villagers say.

(May 6, 2002) The Three Gorges Project Corp. is to begin building the Xiluodu dam later this month.

(May 5, 2002) ‘China’s power shortages have eased over the last year, but experts say they are baffled by official claims that the country has started to produce more electricity and coal than it needs.’

(May 5, 2002) ‘By agreeing to help build a large dam in military-ruled Myanmar, Thailand’s state-run power utility has laid the groundwork for a potential water war in an area already troubled by ethnic conflict and human-rights abuses.’

(May 2, 2002) Of all China’s problems, none will be more critical over the long run than how it resolves the tension between economic development and environmental protection. Nowhere are the consequences of this struggle clearer than in the Himalayan foothills of Yunnan Province.

(May 1, 2002) One observer says the growing protests in China are a result of rising economic inequality and a lack of political rights. ‘Because of the lack of protection of their rights, farmers are more willing to resort to desperate means,’ she says.

(May 1, 2002) Villagers displaced eight yeas ago for the Xiaolangdi dam on the Yellow River are suing local officials over compensation they have yet to receive.

(March 21, 2001) A family of farmers from the Three Gorges region ekes out a living in the garbage business in Shanghai.