Probe International

(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.

(June 30, 2001) Hundreds – and possibly thousands – of Three Gorges migrants weren’t given new land and housing, as required by government regulations.

(June 8, 2001) China is to begin a comprehensive audit of the Three Gorges project in March, Xinhua reports.

(June 7, 2001) The Three Gorges project stands as a black mark on Canada’s human rights record abroad, says Probe International’s Patricia Adams. ‘You have to be willing to walk away from a project if it violates your principles.’

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2006) ‘All local policies and regulations that violate national environmental protection laws and regulations must be rescinded,’ says a joint statement by China’s environmental watchdog SEPA and the Ministry of Supervision.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