[asia-apec 1601] Press Advisory about Three Gorges Dam

[Kevin Yuk-shing Li]

Human Rights in China
Sophia Woodman in Hong Kong: 852.2710.8021
Judy Chen in New York: 212-239-4495

International Rivers Network                    
Doris Shen in California: (510) 848-1155 ext 317                

PRESS ADVISORY 
October 3, 2000 

As violence grows in the Three Gorges resettlement areas, international NGOs
call for immediate action by government and investors to address affected
peoples' grievances 

Reports from the areas to be flooded by the mammoth Three Gorges Dam tell of
an alarming rise in violent incidents sparked by resentment against
resettlement. Officials summoned troops to quell one protest. 

On Friday, Sept 29, the South China Morning Post reported that long-standing
complaints that resettlement plans are ill-conceived, funds inadequate and
that monies allocated for this purpose have been embezzled by corrupt
officials continue to be ignored, while the date for filling the reservoir
grows ever nearer. In many cases, years of peaceful petitioning has brought no
relief, and frustrated residents are increasingly resorting to public
protests, sometimes resulting in clashes with police or local officials. The
homes of between 1.2 to 1.9 million people are to be flooded.  

Reports of growing tension and violence contradict official statements that
the first stage of resettlement is proceeding smoothly. They also demonstrate
that the Chinese government's resettlement regulations and policies, praised
by the World Bank as a model for the developing world, are often nothing but
empty promises for displaced people. In addition, they reveal the serious
inadequacy of complaints mechanisms in China, where the constitutional right
to petition the authorities for the redress of grievances generally means
little in practice. 

A number of recent examples of disturbances illustrate the seriousness of the
problems in the Three Gorges area. In mid-September, about 300 peasants from
Gaoyang Township in Yunyang County attacked officials in charge of the county
Resettlement Bureau, injuring at least one. In another protest in September,
farmers hurled objects that injured some officials, including the deputy party
chief, who was hit with a brick. Officials summoned troops to quell the
violence. Earlier this year in Gaoyang, more than 1,000 peasants staged a
protest and demanded a meeting with county leaders to demand more equitable
compensation and access to official policy documents detailing the terms and
conditions of resettlement. 

A group of 300 farmers resettled in Zhanjiang in Jiangsu Province is returning
to the Three Gorges area because each household had received the pitiful sum
of only 9,000 yuan ($1,200 dollars) to build new houses. Last week, another
group of 300 farmers sent to Taofu state farm in Hubei Province returned to
Gaoyang and assaulted local resettlement bureau officials, accusing them of
embezzling money earmarked for the construction of their new homes. 

Farmers have signed dozens of petitions to complain that their representatives
had been detained and threatened by local officials and even charging that
petitioner representatives had been knifed by local gangsters on the orders of
a local official. 

These are just a few among a catalogue of incidents resulting from severely
inadequate resettlement planning, endemic corruption and mismanagement,
problems the International Rivers Network and Human Rights in China have been
warning for some years create an explosive situation in the Three Gorges area
as large numbers of people began to be moved under the resettlement program. 

For over eight years, the International Rivers Network has been lobbying
financial institutions to ensure they will not support the project. "We call
on the international community to cease involvement in Three Gorges Dam until
abuses of civil rights are addressed. By financing the project, U.S. banks are
aiding in the creation of the most development refugees for a single project
ever. Until Morgan Stanley Dean Witter implements necessary environmental and
social policies governing core business operations, International Rivers
Network is spearheading a consumer boycott of the firm's Discover Card and
I-Choice brokerage services. Financial institutions don't deserve our business
if they don't take responsibility for their environmental and social impacts"
said Doris Shen, IRN program officer.   

Since 1995, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's joint venture, China International
Capital Corporation based in Hong Kong, has served as the Three Gorges Project
Development Corporation's advisor on raising overseas capital. In May 1997 and
1999, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter helped underwrite $830 million in bonds for
the China Development Bank (CDB).  Three Gorges Dam is listed as CDB's top
loan commitment. (see www.floodwallstreet.org for more details) 

Human Rights in China is disturbed at the evident failure of the authorities
at all levels to address the grievances of people forced to move by the Three
Gorges Dam. "As in so many cases, promises made to people displaced for
hydropower projects are proving to be not worth the paper they are written
on?said Sophia Woodman, HRIC research director. "People whose rights are
ignored have no effective means of redress, and their efforts to organize to
protect their interests are met only with repression. This kind of approach is
a recipe for instability and unrest. In the Three Gorges, it could mean
out-and-out violence as the resettlement program advances.?

"We call on the Chinese government to act immediately to ensure that the
rights of people displaced by the dam are fully respected, and to undertake
serious, good faith investigation of all complaints. We recommend that foreign
investors suspend their involvement in the Three Gorges Dam project until
these problems have been satisfactorily addressed," Woodman added. 

Companies that are currently involved in the project include: GEC Alsthom of
France, ABB of Switzerland and Sweden, Agra Monenco of Canada, GE Canada, and
Voith Hydro and Siemens of Germany 

Financing firms involved in financing include:  Morgan Stanley Dean Witter,
China International Capital Corporation, Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney
of Citigroup, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Credit Suisse First Boston.  For a
complete list of foreign involvement in Three Gorges:
http://www.probeinternational.org/probeint/ThreeGorges/who.html 

South China Morning Post reports: 

"Anger at dam corruption Growing" 
http://www.scmp.com/News/ToBody.asp?Sec=China&AID=20000929033340099
"Last Chance for the Damned" 
http://www.scmp.com/News/ToBody.asp?Sec=Comment&AID=20000928224300704