Chris O’Brien at Beijing Newspeak looks at how the official media will cover the Three Gorges Dam, since dam officials have now acknowledged that the project could create an environmental “catastrophe”:
After years of positive spinning, the central leadership has come as clean as the Yangtze River was about 100 years ago about the environmental consequences of the Three Gorges Dam, admitting that if “no preventive measures are taken, the project could lead to catastrophe”…
The leadership should be applauded for a retreat that would impress a Long Marcher although the clapping shouldn’t quite reach fervent levels given the political nature of the announcement and the information that has been relayed through state media about the dam in recent years. [Full text]