Probe International

(May 31, 1994) THE COMEBACK OF THE THREE GORGES DAM (1989-1993) by Shi He and Ji Si

On January 23, 1989, … Yao Yilin, vice-premier and director of the State Council Examination Committee of the Three Gorges project, issued the following statement on behalf of the State Council:

“It is impossible to begin the project within the next five years; therefore, it is not necessary to devote a lot of energy to debating it now. …”

(May 31, 1994) THE BANNING OF YANGTZE! YANGTZE! by Xiao Rong

Due to the concerted efforts of scholars, reporters, editors and publishers, Yangtze! Yangtze! was published as intended just prior to the National People’s Congress (NPC) annual assembly in 1989.

(May 31, 1994) CHAPTER ONE
THE STRUGGLE TO PUBLISH YANGTZE! YANGTZE! IN CHINA by Dai Qing

Since the mid-1980s there have been only three occasions when the Chinese people have openly voiced opposition to the Three Gorges project. … The third instance was when I and several colleagues first published this book, Yangtze! Yangtze!, in China.

(May 31, 1994) OPPOSITION TO AN UNVIABLE DAM by Patricia Adams and Philip Williams

On February 28, 1989, an extraordinary alliance of Chinese journalists, scientists, engineers, scholars, and army generals organized a press conference in Beijing to release their independently produced book criticizing the proposed Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River.

(May 31, 1994) PREFACE TO THE CHINESE EDITION
WORKSONG ON THE YANGTZE RIVER by Wu Guoguang

In China, nothing is free of politics. Although it should be a scientific issue, the Three Gorges project has, unfortunately, been dragged into the political arena.

(May 31, 1994) THE THREE GORGES DAM AND THE CHINESE POLITY by Lawrence R. Sullivan

The contributors to this volume are generally not liberal, Westernized dissidents. Many are long-time loyal communists; others are veteran members of China’s normally compliant satellite parties. These are not the young idealists who filled Beijing’s streets in the democracy movement of 1989, but largely elderly officials with scientific and technical backgrounds who have opposed the dam out of a genuine concern for China’s economic health and political stability.

(May 31, 1994) Yangtze! Yangtze! is a collection of Chinese documents debating the Three Gorges project. This English translation is organized in a manner similar to its Chinese predecessor, with interviews, essays and letters to Chinese officials forming distinct sections. But this edition, which is being published after the project has been given the official go-ahead, also reflects the continuing struggle against the dam: 10 new chapters are included here, which both update and expand the material contained in the original Chinese edition.