(November 9, 2007) Chinese top environmental official says “half of the cities in China have severely polluted groundwater; 300 million people in that rural areas are drinking water with safety problems”. China’s NPC passes “The Law to Prevent and Treat Pollution (modified draft) of the People’s Republic of China” on September 5, 2007.
Three Gorges botanical garden owner sues Chongqing forestry bureau
(November 8, 2007) A Chinese businessman is suing the government over the deaths of thousands of rare plants he had saved from being submerged by the Three Gorges dam, China Daily reported.
Odious debts or odious regimes?
(November 7, 2007) Current odious debt doctrine Рusing the term “doctrine” loosely, since it has never formally been adopted by a court or international decision maker – dates back to a 1927 treatise by a wandering Russian academic named Alexander Sack.
Damming Yangtze tributary begins for China’s 2nd largest hydropower project
(November 7, 2007) China’s Three Gorges Project Corporation began damming the Jinsha River 770 kilometres upstream from the Three Gorges dam on November 7 to build the Xiluodu hydropower plant, the second largest of its type next to the massive Three Gorges Project.
Why Chinese dam is forcing yet another mass exodus
(November 6, 2007) The relocation of a further four million people could cause untold human suffering and is only the latest controversy in a long list of environmental and social problems plaguing the Three Gorges Dam. "They had so many problems with moving one million people. How are they going to move four times that many?" asks Wu Dengming, head of the Green Volunteer League of Chongqing, a local environmental group.
Residents fear China’s Three Gorges Dam
(November 6, 2007) Several times this year, Tan Mingzhu had the terrible feeling her home in central China was about to collapse in on her family.
REVIEW of “Odious debts: the terms of the debate” by Jeff King
(November 2, 2007) This is Jeff King’s second major work on the doctrine of odious debts, the first being the landmark study he produced with Ashfaq Khalfan and Bryan Thomas on behalf of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law at McGill University in 2001 (and finalized in 2003). Like the first, this one is full of important legal history and arguments that odious debt advocates will want to know.
One dam thing after another
(November 1, 2007) Skeptics about the world’s biggest hydroelectric dam are being vindicated as Chinese officials are becoming more worried about landslides and pollution in the Three Gorges reservoir and its tributaries.
British public spending head exploits public purse
(October 28, 2007) Sir John Bourn, chief investigator of Britain’s public spending body, the National Audit Office, has himself come under public scrutiny for allegations of lavish spending, paid for by the public purse.
World Bank’s odious debts paper needs review, say NGOs
(October 26, 2007) The World Bank should conduct a "full, independent peer review" on the odious debts discussion paper it released last month, say an alliance of civil society NGOs that includes Eurodad and the Jubilee Debt Campaign. The alliance, in a letter sent to the bank in early October, call the paper "far below what is needed" and argue not only that the paper is one-sided, but that it is missing significant sources and arguments. It further states that the paper is "largely dismissive of the concept of odious debt" and "omits important cases where the concept has been recognized."
REVIEW The concept of odious debt in public international law
(October 26, 2007) The Norwegian government has funded two studies looking into the concept of odious debts. One was conducted by the World Bank, the other by University of Michigan international economic law expert, Professor Howse.
The Three Gorges: a wiser approach
(October 23, 2007) China’s central government recently warned of a potential ecological catastrophe caused by the huge Three Gorges dam, once hailed as the country’s greatest undertaking in 1,000 years. Jianqiang Liu reports on how views of the project have changed.
Legal scholars set to change the world
(October 20, 2007) In November 2004, Paris Club creditors canceled an unprecedented 80% of the debts they had lent to the regime of Saddam Hussein, catapulting the development of the Doctrine of Odious Debts forward. Now, legal scholars are identifying the many legal principles and precedents supporting lender liability and ensuring that odious debts are never created again.
REVIEW The dilemma of odious debts
(October 20, 2007) If you haven’t read this paper (it’s been circulating on the Internet for some months and is posted here in abstract) then you’re in for a treat. Entertaining, clear and compelling, “The Dilemma of Odious Debts” is an unusual entry to the canon because the authors argue that while challenging odious debts under public international law is most likely hopeless, resorting to private domestic law is very hopeful.
History in the making: legislation to cancel unjust debt
(October 20, 2007) The U.S. Congress is to consider far-reaching debt-relief legislation that seeks to dissolve the debts of 67 of the world’s poorest countries owed to the United States, other official creditors in the Paris Club, the IMF, World Bank and other international financial institutions.
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