Ban on Nu River Dams Washed Away
China’s State Council has announced plans to resume hydropower development on the Nu (Salween), Lancang (Mekong) and Jinsha (a tributary of the Yangtze) rivers. Outgoing premier Wen Jiabao had...
View ArticleRenewed Damming in China Sparks Concern Downstream
“Shocking” news emerged last month of Chinese plans to resume hydropower exploitation of the Nu (Salween), Lancang (Mekong) and Jinsha rivers. At The Hindu, Ananth Krishnan reported that three new dams...
View ArticleDams & Deforestation: Yunnan’s Water Woes
At The New York Times, Andrew Jacobs reports environmentalists’ frustration with the decision to resume damming on southwest China’s Nu River. The new dams are expected to displace as many as 60,000...
View ArticleChina’s Tallest Dam Gets Environmental Green Light
At The Guardian, Jonathan Kaiman reports the approval by Chinese environmental officials of a proposed 314-meter-tall dam despite fears about its effects on the ecology of Sichuan’s Dadu River, an...
View ArticleSingapore Companies Aim to Quench China’s Thirst
Reuters’ Eveline Danubrata describes Singaporean companies’ scramble to help address China’s severe water shortages: Singapore is a hub for water technology because of its own concerns about water...
View Article“Water Grab” Dams Endanger Himalayan Ecology
Amid a race to secure hydropower resources, The Guardian’s John Vidal writes that China and India’s plans to speed up the construction of dams in the Himalayas could have serious environmental...
View ArticleBeijing Sees Its Own Reflection in Water Crisis
Critics accuse Chinese authorities of overemphasizing more politically convenient explanations for the country’s deepening water problems, and implementing the wrong solutions in response. From David...
View ArticleWater in China: Desperate Measures
The Economist highlights water pollution, disappearing rivers and U.N. standard-shattering water scarcity in China, and argues that the country cannot build its way out of its severe water shortages....
View ArticleChina Sweeps Aside Civilians in Rush for Hydropower
The Guardian reports on the European firms that are helping China build up its hydropower industry, starting with the Xiangjiaba dam on the border of Sichuan and Yunnan: “Every year the Chinese...
View ArticleUpper Yangtze Ecology “Collapses”
At China.org.cn, Wu Jin reports the devastation of the upper Yangtze river by overfishing, pollution, and dams: According to a collaborative report led by the ministry’s Yangtze River Fishery Resources...
View ArticleChina’s Dam Boom “a Faustian Bargain”
China has built 22,000 dams taller than 15 meters since the 1950s, displacing some 16 million people. After a lull in recent years, construction is expanding again. Hydropower has been credited for a...
View ArticleChina Falling Behind on 2020 Hydro Goals
Due to increasingly stringent hydro project approval rules, and despite warnings of a “Faustian bargain” with a runaway “hydro-industrial complex,” China is falling behind on its target to raise the...
View ArticleNetizen Voices: Official Tries to Manage Bird Evolution
The tension between development and environmental protection in China has been most keenly felt in relation to air quality, but extends to many other spheres. Campaigners recently rejoiced at the...
View ArticleDevelopment and Destruction Along the Amazon
The Guardian’s Jonathan Watts, the paper’s former Beijing bureau chief and current global environment editor, travels along the Amazon River to explore efforts by the Brazilian government to create...
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Minitrue: Strengthen Control on Shouguang Floods
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source. All...
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