From Shanghai Daily:
In the wake of controversy over the impact of the Three Gorges Dam, China has pledged to take more measures to protect the environment in the area.
The new measures, announced by the office of the Three Gorges Project Committee of the State Council yesterday, consist of seven projects designed to address possible environmental problems and an environmental monitoring system to do the assessment….[FULL TEXT]
Read also “Three Gorges officials terrified by critical thinking” from Beijing Newspeak, which looks at the State Council’s regret over allowing the public to debate and discuss ecological damage caused by the Three Gorges:
The candid discussion about the Three Gorges project in September is widely believed to have been conducted for political purposes. By releasing this news ahead of the 17th Communist Party Congress, Hu Jintao and co could distance themselves away from a project that they inherited rather than implemented. The change in heart did deserve applause no matter whether or not it was engineered. Ecological ills can’t be repaired by denials. But it wasn’t much fun for the Three Gorges officials attending the congress. They entered the Great Hall of the People as fellow Party members sniggered behind their backs at the woeful job they had been doing. [Full text]
[Image of the Three Gorges Dam via Google Image]
