三
峡
大
坝
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
FACT SHEET
Government Relocation Strategies:
To nearby rural areas:
Located to areas with much less fertile land,
majority of which were located on extremely steep
slopes, making it nearly impossible to grow
sufficient crops to sustain themselves; resulting in
a drastic decline in income.
•Started in 1994, completed in
2008
•Located on the Yangtze River,
which flows for 6,418 km
To nearby urban areas:
They generally moved in with family or friends, and
are pushed into the industrial sector to seek
employment. There was high competition for
resources, making it very difficult for the migrants
to create a sustainable lifestyle. Many felt that with
living in such an environment felt they have lost
traditional skills and the social and business
networks they once had, and therefore found it
very difficult to adapt to the new settings.
• 101 meters tall, 2309 meters
long
• Capacity of 18,200 MW of
electricity
• Storage capacity of the
reservoir is 22 cubic kilometers
•Total costs estimated to be $88
billion American dollars
“the world's largest relocation project”
Three
Gorges
Dam
NGO PERSPECTIVE
Environmental NGOs in China address a
wide range of environmental
challenges, including the ones
concerning large scale dams and
hydropower projects. These have also
engaged a number of Chinese NGOs
both in Beijing and in the regions where
the dams are slated for construction.
Over time, there has been a
“radicalization” of the rhetoric of NGOs
engaged in dam protests, possibly due
to the support of international NGOs
such as International Rivers Network, so
that Chinese NGOs now talk extensively
about social justice and displaced
peoples rather than focus exclusively on
consequences for the environment or
ancient cultural sites. Other NGOs,
focusing solely on human rights have
been involved in the 3 Gorges dam
since the Chinese government decided
upon building the dam, such as Human
R i g h t
W a t c h .
GOVERNMENT
PERSEPECTIVE
The high capacity of the reservoir will
drastically reduce the frequency of
major downstream flooding from once
every ten years to once every 100 years.
The dam will also provide clean energy
to the local residents, and will increase
river shipping from 10 million to 100
million
tones
annually,
cutting
transportation costs by 37%.
The State Planning Commission held an
evaluation
meeting
of
350
representatives
from
concerned
ministries and commissions in 1983,
and also had a cost-benefit analysis
proposal done. There were many expert
and inspection groups involved in the
process. Chinese government promised
to keep the financial support to the
local people during the relocation
process and for another 20 years. By
March 2006, the Migration Found had
raised 51 billion RMB, and built 42
million square meters of housing. This
Migration Found is part of the money
earned by the hydro-electricity
generated by the dam.
“12% of the
resettlement
budget has
been
embezzled”
INTERNATIONAL
PERSPECTIVE
The World Bank and the US Export-Import
Bank were stung by vicious critiques of other
hydro projects that it sponsored, so therefore
decided not to fund the project in China. The
export credit agencies of Germany,
Switzerland, Sweden, France and the UK all
promised support for potential suppliers from
their countries. Canada also offered long-term
commercial loans to China. Closer to home,
Japan decided positively on the building of the
dam, and they offered long-term commercial
loans as well, after initial hesitation. The Three
Gorges Dam project acts as a guideline to
current and future dam projects around the
world, demonstrating both positive and
negative processes and outcomes.
“submerged 13
cities, 140 towns,
and 1,350 villages,
and displaced 1.3
million people”
WCD KEY DECISION POINTS
Far away, to neighbouring provinces:
A response to the dissatisfaction of the previous
two strategies. However, the people were very
hesitant to move so far away as they felt they
would become completely disconnected from
their places of origin. Adapting to a new
environment was very difficult for the migrants,
as they were forced to learn how to cultivate
new and unfamiliar varieties of crops. Not only
was there a drastic decrease in their incomes,
there was a loss of social and cultural values
and traditions. In addition, the residents of the
host communities were very hesitant on
welcoming the migrants, with whom they were
to share their own land with.
The local people voiced their opinions through
protests in Beijing, but the government failed to
listen. The government had also made promises
to compensate those who were relocated,
however a great deal of the people never
received it, and if so it was much less than what
was promised. Rather, the government officials
tended to keep a great deal of the funding for
their own use rather than supporting the
displaced locals.
Forced
Migration
WORLD DAM REPORT
The World Commission on Dams was
established in May 1998 in response to the
escalating local and international controversies
over large dams. The commission was to
research the environmental, social and
economic impacts of the development of large
dams globally, funded by the World Bank and
the World Conservation Union. The final product
of the WCD was launched in 2000 and
established a comprehensive set of guidelines
for dam building to date and issued seven
strategic priorities and five key decision points,
illustrated in the figure on the right.
Sources:
• International Waters (2009). China’s Three Gorges Dam: A model of the Past
• Heming, L., Waley, P. & Rees, P (2001). Reservoir Resettlement in China: Past
experience and the Three Gorges Dam. The Geographical Journal, 167(3), p.
195-212.
• Three Gorges Dam Hydroelectric Power Plant, China (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.power-technology.com/projects/gorges/
• Allin, S. (2004). An Examination of China’s Three Gorges Dam Project.
Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-12142004125131/unrestricted/SAllin_010304.pdf
• Report of the World Commission on Dams (2000). Dams and Development.
Earthscan Publications Ltd.
• Environmental Groups and Activists in China (2011). Retrieved from
http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=388&catid=10&subcatid=66
• Economy, E.C. (2011). China’s Environmental Movement. Retrieved from
http://www.cfr.org/china/chinas-environmental-movement/p7770
Created By: Rebekah McLeod, Tabitha Maat, Ru Wan, Marco Becking
拆
迁
移
民