China's quake: the dam factor
May 20, 2008
The San Francisco Chronicle quotes Probe International's Patricia Adams in a story linking China's devastating earthquake to speculation that the country's enormous Three Gorges dam "was a factor in causing the killer Sichuan province quake." [Full story]
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Don't build dams everywhere, expert warns
May 18, 2008
Respected researcher Chen Guojie cautions against the headlong rush to construct hydropower projects all over southwest China, where "no valley is being left undisturbed, and no river left undammed."
The translated version of this article originally ran in the August 22, 2005 edition of Three Gorges Probe. [Full story]
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China earthquakes. More peril: Dam and reservoir collapse
May 17, 2008
The 7.8 earthquake that shook Sichuan Province in the afternoon of May 12, killing an estimated 50,000, is posing a continuing threat as the untold damage to hydropower stations and reservoir dams upstream on the Min River (the Minjiang) becomes apparent, reports Chinastakes. [Full story]
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China says troops rush to plug dangerous cracks in dam
May 14, 2008
Over 2000 Chinese soldiers are involved in the repair efforts to prevent a dam collapse that would swamp the nearby city of Duijiangyan, endangering its 600,000 residents. [Full story]
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China's deadly earthquake: Was the Three Gorges reservoir a trigger?
May 14, 2008
Did the filling of the massive Three Gorges reservoir trigger seismic activity in what has always been an earthquake-prone region? [Full story]
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Chinese dams compromised by earthquake; authorities on alert
May 14, 2008
In the wake of China's massive earthquake, and amidst the desperate recovery effort, Chinese authorities have still more to worry about as damage to existing dams becomes evident. [Full story]
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THREE GORGES ORAL HISTORY SERIES: Absence of Justice: Lu Chengming's Struggle for Compensation
March 18, 2008
Enterprising and dedicated Party member Lu Chengming spends eight years toiling as a labourer and saves enough money to start a profitable hotel business. When he tries to contest the amount of his meagre Three Gorges dam resettlement compensation, including remuneration for his wharf, he is beaten by a high-ranking government official and his hotel and home are razed to the ground.
Chinese journalist Dai Qing and Three Gorges Probe proudly present "The Absence of Justice: Lu Chengming's Struggle for Compensation" by Liu Bai, the second in a series of oral histories brought to you from the Three Gorges region. [Full story]
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Up the Yangtze gets rave review from Dai Qing
February 14, 2008
Probe International Fellow Dai Qing lauds Canadian documentary Up the Yangtze for revealing the human cost of the Three Gorges dam. [Full story]
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Probe International asks Canadian government to provide legal aid to Three Gorges dam victims
February 13, 2008
Read all correspondence. [Full story]
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THREE GORGES ORAL HISTORY SERIES: The Wushan Governor's Murder
February 07, 2008
A county governor accused of spending thousands ear-marked for Three Gorges resettlement on lavish feasts and women is murdered in cold blood. Local hero Tian Tejie confesses to the killing. But when the villagers rally behind Tian, who claims he was compelled to kill the hated governor after a series of dreams, the legal community is intrigued and desperately tries to prevent Tian's execution.
Chinese journalist Dai Qing and Three Gorges Probe proudly present "The Wushan Governor's Murder" by Liu Bai, the first in a series of oral histories brought to you from the Three Gorges region. [Full story]
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Canadian government responds to Probe International's recommendation that it must take responsibility for role in disastrous Three Gorges project
February 06, 2008
Last November, Probe International called for the Canadian government to "make amends for failing to warn the Chinese government that the project's environmental risks would ultimately threaten the lives, property, and economic future of millions of people living along the Yangtze river." Read the orginal letter and the government's response. [Full story]
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Beijing Olympic water scheme drains parched farmers
January 23, 2008
A frantic '100-day battle' is underway to complete a 300-kilometre network of canals and pipes that will take water from the parched countryside of Hebei province to Beijing, for its 'green' Olympic games in August. Reporting from Baoding city, Hebei province, Reuters' Beijing correspondent Chris Buckley captures the conflict provoked by the Olympic plan to show off Beijing as a green, leafy city with drinkable tap water and sparkling fountains by draining neighbouring provinces that are suffering from a decade-long drought. [Full story]
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EDITORIAL: As Three Gorges ramps up, operating conflicts will intensify
January 23, 2008
China's Three Gorges dam operator plans to fill the Three Gorges reservoir to capacity this year despite the risk of more landslides and worsening environmental problems along the Yangtze, the country's most important river. [Full story]
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New documentary examines the impact of carbon trading
January 16, 2008
The Carbon Connection, a new documentary by Fenceline Films, follows two communities affected by the trade in carbon dioxide. [Full story]
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Scholars chart new legal course
January 16, 2008
Law and Contemporary Problems, Duke Law School's oldest journal, is dedicating two issues to the ideas presented at the Odious Debts and State Corruption conference that have broadened the legal discourse about odious debt. [Full story]
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Development schemes displace Laotian farmers: Canadian study
January 15, 2008
The Lao government's ambition to become one of Southeast Asia's biggest exporters of hydropower and wood chips is hurting the country's small farmers and driving young people to neighbouring Thailand in search of better prospects, a recent Canadian-led study has found.
"If things continue the way they are going in this village, all the young people will have gone to Thailand. Only the older people will remain," says a resident of Pak Veng, one of nearly 60 communities adversely affected by dam construction and the conversion of forests to industrial tree plantations in central Laos. [Full story]
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Yangtze Power "profits" unhinged from Three Gorges' spiraling environmental costs
January 08, 2008
China's Yangtze Power Company, operator of the Three Gorges dam, posted a 47 percent rise in "profit" last year, Reuters reported on January 8. Critics, including Probe International, argue that Yangtze Power's profits from Three Gorges would vanish if the company were forced to pay its share of the project's rising environmental costs. [Full story]
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PI Policy: The problem with environmental impact assessments
January 06, 2008
Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are now standard practice for dam builders. Probe International's Grainne Ryder explains how this seemingly positive development actually undermines citizen rights and harms the environment. [Full story]
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Canada's aid seeded China dam
December 31, 2007
A Canadian study steered the building of the contentious Three Gorges dam, but warnings existed, The Wall Street Journal reports.
"The problems at the Three Gorges aren't just a Chinese problem, as it's often portrayed," says Pat Adams of Probe International. "It's a world-wide issue, with responsibility in other countries, too." [Full story]
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China's massive dam project causes worry
December 29, 2007
ABC News interviews concerned villagers living along the shores of the Three Gorges reservoir about the effects of the rising waters. Officials deny that a major earthquake could happen at Three Gorges but critics are not convinced: "Almost all my fears have come true," Dai Qing told ABC News. "The landslides and cracks have made people migrants once again. The water in the rivers and reservoirs is no longer drinkable." [Full story]
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