(June 13, 2006) China Three Gorges activist beaten – rights group Beijing: A Chinese activist who has spent years petitioning over resettlement terms for those displaced by the giant Three Gorges Dam was beaten up just after being called in by police, a rights group said on Tuesday.
Human error cited in Fujian floods
(June 12, 2006) As torrential rain that has caused scores of deaths continues to lash southeast China, flood refugees in Fujian province say their own lives were put at risk by dam operators who opened the floodgates of 10 reservoirs without warning.
Half China’s chemical plants pose grave risk
(July 12, 2006) Nearly half of China’s chemical plants pose "a severe environmental risk," according to a report released yesterday by the country’s environmental protection agency.
Lugar begins hearing on the UN Convention Against Corruption
(June 11, 2006) The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Dick Lugar resided over the first hearing on the UN Convention Against Corruption last month which had been sent by the US Administration for Senate advice and consent.
Geological disasters possible in Three Gorges reservoir area
(June 10, 2006) China’s Ministry of Land and Resources urged its local counterparts to take measures against possible geological disasters in the Three Gorges reservoir area.
Let’s launch an enquiry into the debt! A manual on how to organise audits on Third World debts
(June 10, 2006) A new guide to launching debt audits hopes to ‘untangle the web of debt.’ the Third World debt can seem like a real gold mine, for the people living in the Third World, it feels more like a straight jacket," reads the promotional material for a new how-to guide on auditing Third World debts.
Applying the odious debts doctrine while preserving legitimate lending
(June 10, 2006) Abstract: Odious debts are debts incurred by the government of a nation without either popular consent or a legitimate public purpose. While there is some debate within academic circles as to whether the successor government to a regime which incurred odious debts has the right to repudiate repayment, in the real world this is currently not an option granted legitimacy either by global capital markets or the legal systems of creditor states.
Burma ‘is using dams to drive out dissident villagers’
(June 9, 2006) Four dams are being built on Burma’s Salween [Nu] River, ostensibly in the name of regional development. But campaigners say the dams, which will flood areas the Karen minority hope one day to make their independent homeland, amount to an act of war.
Faiths call for cancellation of foreign debt
(June 9, 2006) Religious leaders say Kenya should be given a debt write-off or the nation should stop repaying them.
Nation set to harness river
China Daily June 8, 2006 The central government is drafting a long-term plan for controlling floods, cut-offs, pollution and the build-up of sediment on the Yellow River. Harnessing the river will ensure […]
Electric giant sparks new market
(June 7, 2006) The State Power Corp of China, the nation’s major electricity supplier, is striving to reshape itself as a market-oriented conglomerate.
Civil Society Statement on the Paris Club at 50: illegitimate and unsustainable
(June 6, 2006) As it is today, the Paris Club does not have any legitimacy. Civil society organizations from the South and the North demand a radical change of the current state of affairs in international debt management.
Attorney general sued for dropping Suharto case
(June 6, 2006) Three private groups of lawyers and activists have filed a suit against the Indonesian attorney general’s office for dropping a long-running corruption case against ailing former dictator Suharto.
Pollution costs equal 10% of China’s GDP
(June 6, 2006) Projects will be cancelled if they cause overdevelopment of land resources or negatively affect the surrounding environment, said SEPA deputy director Zhu Guangyao.
Triple threat to the Yangtze
(June 6, 2006) Ma Jun is a Beijing-based environmental advocate and author of the acclaimed China’s Water Crisis (EastBridge, 2004). Time magazine recently named him one of the ‘100 people who shape our world.’ The following article appeared in the New Beijing News (Xin jingbao) June 1.
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