Tibet Environmental Watch - Editorial and Op Ed Articles

http://www.tibetjustice.org/tringyiphonya/num14.html#2
and http://www.tibetjustice.org/tringyiphonya/num15.html )

In the twenty-first century China’s path increasingly looks to be defined by the practice – indeed, the “miracle,” in the words of President Hu Jintao – of engineering. China continues its frenetic construction of dams to harness rivers and generate electricity, of oxygen-tent railway cars to traverse permafrost, and to build multi-billion dollar canals and tunnels through 7,000-meter mountains to divert water.

But human miracles can fall from grace, as China’s railway to Tibet already has when it derailed last month. (See http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=13703&t=1). While a modest failure relatively speaking, what can we expect from dams and water-diversion tunnels built in one of the most geologically unstable and tectonically active regions on Earth? For those living downstream there can be zero margin of error for these dams and tunnels.

And so, can China engineer its way through the twenty-first century? Can the means of engineering produce a just and ethical end?

The answer lies in linking engineering and development to democracy. While decision-making about building these quixotic engineering “miracles” still lies largely with a technocratic elite, China’s State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) recently issued a “groundbreaking set of guidelines on the public's right to participate in decision-making on large construction projects such as big dams.” (Activists Hail Guidelines on Public Input into Projects http://www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/print.cfm?ContentID=14893.)

The guidelines, announced in late February of this year, seem to hold promise for the continued growth of transparency, citizen collaboration, and participatory governance in environment and development decision-making in China. Indeed, SEPA’s guidelines made special mention of enforcement, a promising turn of events.

And yet, even after SEPA’s late-February announcement, grim environmental news has come out of Inner Mongolia, another politically peripheral region that is home to an ethnic minority, regarding toxic spills by a company whose fine and punishment went unenforced. (See below Rules Ignored, Toxic Sludge Sinks Chinese Village http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/04/world/asia/04pollution.html.)

That is, it is bad enough that a government cannot enforce its own edicts. What will happen in China and Tibet with corporations that are supposed to implement these massive government development projects? News briefs below point to increasing problems in SW China regarding the accident records and fiscal governance of Sinohydro, China’s major dam-building corporation. (See Sinohydro 'Downgraded' over Accident Record http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/01Sep2006_news25.php and Yunnan Power Grid Company Losing Money: ADB Report

http://www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/print.cfm?ContentID=15728)

How can China’s leaders and judiciary practice what they preach? In turn, can China’s burgeoning corporations, both foreign and homegrown, set high ethical standards in participatory governance and corporate citizenship? Finally, what ethical principles and practices can Tibetan Buddhism bring to sustainable development and environmental stewardship in Tibet, China, and the downstream nations?

We look forward to reading your thoughts on these issues.

Ai Jiang Shan Guest Editor Back to Top

China to Promote Wild Animal Hunt
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4775335.stm

August 9, 2006

China is to auction licences for foreigners to hunt wild animals, including endangered species, according to the Beijing Youth Daily. The auction will offer the right to hunt yaks, wolves and other wild animals in five western provinces: Qinghai, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the autonomous regions of Ningxia and Xinjiang.

Auctioneers told the BBC that the sale, the first of its kind in China, would go ahead on Sunday [Editor’s Note: 13 August 2006]. A licence to hunt a wolf could go for $200 (Ł105), while permission to shoot a yak could be as much as $40,000 (Ł21,000), the daily said. Shooting an argali, a large wild sheep, will cost about $10,000 (Ł5,000) while a blue sheep will cost $2,500 (Ł1,300).

"Some animals are from the first and second category of national wildlife protection, but with the strict limitations in place, the hunting could not destroy wild animal populations," the daily said.

According to sources at the Beijing Youth Daily, proceeds from the auction would be used to protect wild animals.

Edited and abridged from the original.

Editor’s Note: At press time, TRIN-GYI-PHO-NYA learned through a BBC report that China has postponed the auction. While the Chinese State Forestry Administration (SFA) has stated that, "The response from the public [against the auction] is beyond our expectation," SFA official Wang Wei also noted that the auction would simply be delayed until a later date. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4783067.stm. We urge continued and concerted work to stop China’s intentions.

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An Appeal

By Tenzin Luding

Dear fellow human brothers and sisters around the world,

The recent BBC news dated 9, August, 2006 titled “China to promote wild animal hunt,” if true, is a very sad and bizarre development given that the plan has been put forward to generate revenues to protect wild animals by auctioning licences to kill innocent animals, including endangered species.

The idea to accumulate funds to save wildlife is indeed laudable, but the means to achieve this goal is certainly out of place. With our beautiful minds and compassionate hearts certainly we humans can think of far more humane and positive alternatives.

Initiating commercialization and legalization of hunting helpless animals is a sad affair wherever it takes place in the world. But it is even sadder when this is introduced in the name of protecting these very animals. One should never encourage people to indulge in activities like this even where free license is given to kill for pleasure.

Since ancient times in Tibet there has been the tradition of living a virtuous life through the ingrained Buddhist knowledge of mutual dependency of all human, animal, and plant life, as well as non-sentient elements of nature. There have long been taboos regarding excessive violation of nature and animals. Decrees were passed to save wild animals, hunting was banned and hunters were looked down as sinners. Human and animals lived together in abundance without any sort of fear with peace and privacy.

Therefore, this action by Chinese government officials brought about in parts of the sacred land of Tibet would be a complete disregard of deeply embedded Tibetan values. Efforts should be made to make Tibet a model land where humans, animals and nature live in perfect harmony.

I appeal to all the people who share this view to kindly write letters to the concerned authorities or commence whatever peaceful actions deemed appropriate so that the promotion of animal hunting is stopped.

We must continue this campaign until we reach our just goal.

May love and compassion prevail!

Tenzin K Luding
Tibetans for a vegetarian society
(for a healthy, happy, & humane world)
T4VS is a registered as a non-profit charitable trust

Edited and abridged from the original.

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A New Generation of Skilled Activists

http://www.tibetinfonet.net/content/update/27
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=13439&article=A+new+generation+of+skilled+activists&t=1&c=1

August 4, 2006

An amateur video (VCD) entitled The Protection of Wild Animals Begins with Oneself, which is currently in circulation in Tibet, provides a comprehensive account of the public burning of pelts of endangered species which took place in Litang, Kham [Chinese: western Sichuan] in March 2006. The video demonstrates the Tibetan people's enduring loyalty and reverence for their exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, but it also bears witness for a new and very sophisticated approach to political activism which harnesses modern communication technologies and Chinese legal terminology to publicise as well as legitimate their action. It demonstrates the level of efficiency and political maturity which Tibetan activists inside Tibet have developed.

The video shows vividly the scale and enthusiasm of the popular participation in the burning activity, effectively serving the function of encouraging other Tibetans to follow the example set in Litang. As the commentary at the beginning of the VCD notes…:

"To protect wild animals and the environment is the inviolable duty of the citizens of our country. For reasons of preventing Tibetans from killing and harming wild animals and putting an end to the trade in skins, we, the people of Tsalma district of Litang, Kham have voluntarily burnt the skins of tigers, leopards and otters, which are given the first degree of protection according to the national environmental protection policy".

Edited and abridged from the original.

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Desperate Plight of Wildlife: Is the Use of Animal Pelts in Tibetan Chupas the Main Driver?
http://tibet.net/en/tibbul/2006/0506/enviro.html

Editor’s Note: This essay originally appeared in Tibetan Bulletin Online.

By Tenzin Tsultrim

May - June 2006 Volume 10, Issue 3

There was a great uproar last year over Tibetans’ use of animal pelts in their chupa (traditional dress). At a time when the world was appealing for increased wildlife protection, highlighting the fact that Indian tigers are vanishing from their reserves, it is unfortunate that a new tradition involving the use of animal fur and pelts to line and decorate the Tibetan chupa was quietly gaining strength in Tibet.

In response to this growing problem, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, during the Kalachakra festival held in January 2006 in Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, India, passionately appealed to Tibetans to shun the use of animal products in their clothes and personal life.

This struck a positive note in his people: scores of Tibetans both in and outside Tibet swore never to use animal products like pelts and ivory in their clothes and jewellery. Many of them even spontaneously burnt their old pelts and furs and took a public vow to never use them again.

Seeing the positive response to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a danger in the growth of Tibetan nationalism in Tibet, the Chinese government called for a ban on burning the skins and threatened Tibetans with severe punishment if involved in the campaign.

On some occasions, Tibetans were even threatened with punishment by the Chinese authorities if they did not use pelts. One such incident took place in Tibet on February 26, 2006, during a spontaneous session of burning animal skins worth millions of yuan by Tibetans in response to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s appeal to shun animal products.

The Public Security Bureau in Tibet reportedly issued an announcement on this day, banning the Tibetans from carrying out such campaigns. This also led to the arrest of a few Tibetans. According to Radio Free Asia, eight Tibetans have been detained since late February in Sichuan province for carrying out the burning under foreign influences….

The people in Tibet must be praised for having taken such a bold initiative, especially considering the political situation in their land. As His Holiness observed during the wildlife protection campaign at Kalachakra, “Today more than ever before, life must be characterised by a sense of universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human but also human to other forms of life.”

Edited and abridged from the original.

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Mountain Patrol: Kekexili - A Tibetan Perspective http://phayul.com/news/article.aspx?c=8&t=1&id=13574&article=Mountain+Patrol%3a+Kekexili

By Tenzing Sonam

August 18, 2006

Lu Chuan’s critically acclaimed Tibetan film – Kekexili: Mountain Patrol is a deftly crafted, gritty and uncompromising tale of greed and heroism set within a larger theme of man and nature.

It follows a band of Tibetan vigilantes led by the noble and single-minded Ri Tai as they set out across the forbidding northern plains of Tibet in pursuit of a gang of murderous poachers who have killed one of their men and have left behind a trail of slaughtered chirus – the endangered Tibetan antelope. As the film progresses, we realize that it is not so much about the tracking down of the hunters as it is about the journey itself. Ri Tai’s uncompromising quest leads to the death of several of his men who are killed, not by their enemy but by the harsh vagaries of nature itself, which does not differentiate between those who seek to exploit her and those who are trying to protect her….

Edited and abridged from the original.

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China Targets its Western Regions to Help Cover its Oil Deficiencies
By Khyunglho Tsetan Dolkar

Khyunglho Tsetan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Political Science department at Phillips University, Marburg, Germany. Her research focus is on Sino-Tibet relationship in the last decade of the 20th century. Special to TRIN-GYI-PHO-NYA

Recent huge leaps in China's economic and industrial growth have made China the world's second leading oil importing country after Japan and the second largest oil consumer in the world. Propelled as a major player in the international oil market, China's skyrocketing growth in its economic sectors has led to a widening gap between its domestic oil production and consumption. In 1993, China for the first time became a net oil-importing country, ending its “energy self-reliance” phase. By the turn of the century China’s oil imports had almost doubled in one year, rising from 36.6 million tons in 1999 to 70.2 million tons in year 2000.(1) According to World Energy Outlook 2004 China alone accounted for almost one third of the rise in global oil demand in 2003.(2) The International Energy Agency’s statistics show that China’s oil imports will rise dramatically to 400 million tons a year by 2020, with the potential to rise further.(3) China’s ever-increasing thirst for energy and its heavy reliance on foreign oil imports impose serious threats to international oil security and warrant global considerations. This paper will show the new strategies that China is adopting to overcome domestic oil shortages and how the country’s unexplored western regions are becoming prime targets of China’s oil policies.

A retrospective look at China’s oil industry exhibits that prior to its economic reform in 1978, China had maintained self-sufficiency with its major oil fields, such as Daqing (discovered in 1960), Shengli (1962), Renqiu (1975) and Liaohe (1967). However, as the nation's demand surged, Daqing, China’s largest oil field reached a stagnation phase in the late 1970s(4) and the total output of the other three oil fields has failed to exceed Daqing's peak output, which accounted for half of the nation's total oil production in 1976.(5) The decline of onshore production impelled China to focus on its more promising offshore reserves. China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), in conjunction with foreign oil companies, started aggressive oil exploration in the Bohai Gulf near Tianjin in 1970s and in the South China Sea near Canton in the late 1970s. The exploration in the Bohai Gulf led to the discovery of two productive oilfields; Haisi and Chengbai oilfields. Despite joint ventures with foreign oil companies such as the Japan National Oil Corporation (JNOC) and the Societe' National Elf Aquitaine of France the yield remained relatively small in the Bohai Gulf. The crude oil production from the South China Sea was estimated to peak at about 100,000 b/d, a respectable output but far short of initial hopes.(6)

Figure 1: http://argo.na.infn.it/argofig/tibet_map.gif

A host of problems has hindered the rapid development of China’s oil industry. For instance in the onshore fields excessive extraction of oil, adopting Soviet methods, and a lack of sophisticated technology limited the increase in Daqing's production. Furthermore, complicated geological structures in Shengli and other fields had also hampered the output. In addition the wastefulness of the whole extraction and transportation process aggravated the inadequacies of onshore production. As for offshore productivity, despite occasional significant discoveries and international involvement, China’s limited technological prowess, particularly at deep sea drilling, impeded the growth of those oil reserves. The combination of the shortage in domestic oil supply with the burgeoning industries and manufacturing sectors of China’s booming economy elevated its dependency on foreign imported oil. Furthermore, limitation in coal use, the primary source of energy for China, due to environmental policies exacerbated the growing reliance on oil and gas. The weak energy transportation infrastructure such as inadequate oil pipelines, which couldn’t keep pace with the nation’s overwhelming demand, further constrained the expansion of China's oil industry.

To minimize the widening supply-demand curve and increasing dependency on imported oil China embarked on new strategies in their Tenth Five Year Plan, which states:

Energy, oil in particular, is of strategic importance. Domestic development and production of oil can no longer keep pace with the needs of the country’s economic and social development, resulting in an increasing imbalance between oil supply and demand. Therefore, we need to take all possible measures to conserve oil, accelerate exploration and exploitation of oil and natural gas resources, and make effective use of overseas resources.

In implementing the plans China targeted its western regions particularly Tarim and Karamay Basins in Xinjiang Autonomous Region and Tsaidam Basin in Qinghai, north-eastern Tibet. Although the oil reserves in these regions were known to the Chinese government from early 1950s, the expensive nature of the projects dissuaded leaders from developing them. However the urgency of the need has compelled China once again to place high priority on the development of these basins, hence the “West to East Gas Transfer” project was launched.

The history of these oilfields started several decades ago when Karamay and Tsaidam were discovered in the 1950s, and Tarim in 1970s. At the time experts believed that the three oilfields contain huge amount of reserves and would help China reduce its reliance on imported oil. According to Soviet and Chinese geologists, Karamay contained approximately 60 percent of Mainland China's oil reserves and Tsaidam was once believed by the Chinese geologists as the most promising oilfield. The West to East Gas Transfer project focused on the construction of pipelines to transport natural gas from Xinjiang to Shanghai City and Sebei in the Tsaidam Basin to Lanzhau, capital of Gansu Province. The construction of 953 kilometer Sebei-Xining-Lanzhou gas transmission pipeline began on 30 March 2000 at the cost of $302 million. The pipeline is designed to transfer two billion cubic meters of gas annually. On July 4, 2002 China kicked off another multibillion dollar natural gas transmission project, a 4,200 kilometer pipeline which starts from Lunnan oilfield in southern Xinjiang and snakes through the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, ending in Shanghai and Zhejiang province.(7)

Figure 2: http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/insurance/risk/2005_02/Imgs/economy6.gif

Heavy explorations of oil and gas deposits in Tibet and other western regions continue to persist. In a report carried by Xinhuanet, in 2001 Chinese scientists had claimed of a 180 million year old oil belt discovery in Changthang Basin, northern Tibet. The team predicted that the reserves in the ancient belt hold up to 5.4 billion tons with enormous large oil and gas basins. The prediction indicates that the government may intensify exploration and extraction in Tibet for years to come. Furthermore, the recent implementation of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2006-2010) outlines Beijing's intentions to pursue their plans to further exploit the energy resources in Tibet. China's National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) explicitly avers in its five year plan to increase the production capacity of Qinghai Oil Field to 6.5 – 7 billion cubic meters and reinforce oil-gas exploration in Tsaidam Basin.(8) England’s The Guardian on May 30, 2006 reported that PetroChina, while inviting foreign participation had drilled its first complete well at Changthang and has plans to drill ten more in three years.(9)

All these measures employed by the CCP highlight how China will continue targeting Tibet and other western regions to slake their thirst for oil. So long as the global oil production stagnates and China’s demand climbs at the present rate and its supply engines splutter, exploitation of China's western regions will be a focal point in its energy policy.

References:
1 Zha Daojiong, ‘China’s Energy Security and Its International Relations’, The China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3, Central Asia-Caucasus & Silk Road Studies Program, November 2005.
2 World Energy Outlook 2004, OECD/IEA, November 9, 2004.
3 China’s Worldwide Quest for Energy Security, IEA, 2000.
4 Cheng, Chu-Yuan, The Demand and Supply of Primary Energy in Mainland China, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, Taipei, Taiwan, 1984.
5 Vaclav Smil, Energy in China's Modernization: Advances and Limitations, An East Gate Book, M. E. Sharpe, Inc. 1998.
6 Haijiang Henry Wang, China’s Oil Industry and Market, Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, 1999.
7 ‘Massive Pipeline project underway in China’, Asia Times, July 6, 2002.
8 ‘Qinghai to Build a Ten Million Ton Oil & Gas Field’, Sinocast, June12, 2006.
9 ‘China invites oil firms to join invasion of Tibet’, The Guardian, May 30, 2006.

Abridged from the original.

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Pollution From Chinese Coal Casts a Global Shadow
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/business/worldbusiness/11chinacoal.html?ex=1307678400en=e9ac1f6255a24fd8ei=5088partner=rssnytemc=rss

By Keith Bradsher and David Barboza

June 11, 2006

One of China's lesser-known exports is a dangerous brew of soot, toxic chemicals and climate-changing gases from the smokestacks of aging coal-burning power plants.

In early April, a dense cloud of pollutants over Northern China sailed to nearby Seoul, sweeping along dust and desert sand before wafting across the Pacific. An American satellite spotted the cloud as it encountered the West Coast.

Researchers in western United States have noticed specks of sulfur compounds, carbon and other byproducts of coal combustion coating detectors. Filters in the mountains of eastern California "are the darkest that we've seen" outside smoggy urban areas, said Steven S. Cliff, an atmospheric scientist at the University of California, Davis.

Unless China finds a way to clean up its coal plants and the thousands of factories that burn coal, pollution will soar both at home and abroad. The increase in global-warming gases from China's coal use will probably exceed that for all industrialized countries combined over the next 25 years, surpassing by five times the reduction in such emissions that the Kyoto Protocol seeks.

Large areas of North-Central China have been devastated by the spectacular growth of the local coal industry….

There are growing concerns about the impact of this coal boom on the environment. The Asian Development Bank says it is financing pollution control programs in Shanxi because the number of people suffering from lung cancer and other respiratory diseases in the province has soared over the past 20 years. Yet even after years of government-mandated cleanup efforts the region's factories belch black smoke.

Edited and abridged from the original.

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China’s Nu River Dam Projects Threaten Magnificent World Heritage Site

By Vinya Sysamouth, International Rivers Network

Special to TRIN-GYI-PHO-NYA

Known as the Salween River in Burma and Thailand, the Nu River stretches over 3,200 kilometers from its origins on the Tibetan Plateau to its delta at the Andaman Sea in Burma. It is the second longest river in Southeast Asia and is one of only two undammed rivers in China. In Yunnan Province, the Nu River forms part of the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site that is known to be one of the ecologically richest sub-tropical regions of the world. The area contains over 6,000 plant species and is believed to support more than a quarter of the world’s and fully half of China's animal species, with many being endemic, relict or endangered. Forests and wetlands along the length of the river are home to diverse species of flora and fauna, constituting areas of magnificent ecological value. The area is also known for its cultural diversity: almost 300,000 people from thirteen different ethnic groups, including many Tibetans, live within the boundaries of the World Heritage Site.

Yet all of this may soon change. The Yunnan Provincial government has plans to construct a cascade of up to thirteen hydroelectric dams along the Nu River. The entire cascade would cost tens of billions of dollars and, if completed, would generate more electricity than the mammoth Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. Nine of the thirteen proposed dams are situated in national nature reserves that are located close to the World Heritage Area.

Livelihoods Threatened

The Nu / Salween River supports millions of people whose livelihoods depend on it for fisheries and agriculture. If all thirteen dams are built, over 50,000 people from several ethnic minority groups, including many Tibetans, will be moved from their ancestral homelands. Project proponents claim that the dams will help bring development and modernity to the impoverished areas along the Nu River. However, the China’s record of resettlement is not positive, and many people fear that the promised benefits will not materialize. One ethnic Tibetan who would be affected told the New York Times: “If people are forced to move because of the project, they are going to lose the way of life that makes them special. It’s inevitable that people will lose their traditions if they move away.”

According to officials, affected villagers will be moved to far away towns or relocated to higher ground. “These fields will be flooded, and then we’ve got to move up in the hills. What can we plant up there?” asked Mr. Hu, a teacher.

If people are moved to higher ground, the land will not be as fertile as along the river valleys, making it difficult for people to survive. Many will be forced to practice shifting cultivation, thereby increasing pressure on the protected area. The demands for fuelwood and non-timber forest products will put a strain on the area’s limited resources. In addition, the increasing competition for scarce resources could lead to conflicts between those who have been relocated and host communities. This may result in inter-ethnic rivalries.

The construction of several large dams in the vicinity of the World Heritage Site will necessitate the construction of roads and associated infrastructure. This will open access to the World Heritage Site for poachers, loggers and other resource users, thereby threatening the ecological integrity of the area. Construction activities will also erode hillside areas, causing increased sedimentation in the rivers.

Campaign Efforts

Efforts to protect the Nu / Salween River by concerned individuals and organizations in China, Burma, Thailand and internationally have had some success. In late 2003 and early 2004, thanks to a concerted campaign by Chinese NGOs and journalists, hundreds of news articles were published in China about the dam plans. As a result, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suspended plans for the dams in April 2004, citing the need for further studies.

The World Heritage Committee has expressed concerns about the dam plans for several years. At its last meeting in July 2006, the Committee reiterated its "continuing serious concern over the potential significant impact from proposed hydropower and dam development on the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site and downstream communities", and noted that dam construction significantly impacting the World Heritage Site “would provide a case for inclusion of the property in the List of World Heritage in Danger.”

Since early 2004, while preliminary survey and construction work has taken place on four of the proposed dam sites, the project remains stalled. However, powerful interests in the Yunnan Provincial Government and the Huadian Development Company are pushing for dam construction to move forward on at least four of the proposed dams.

We need your help to protect this international treasure. Please write a letter to the Chinese Ambassador in your country expressing your concern about the Yunnan government’s plans to dam the Nu River. Ask the Ambassador to relay the message to China’s Premier Wen Jiabao that the Nu River should be protected for future generations. Alternatively, go to http://www.irn.org/action/060424nu.php to send an email to the Chinese Ambassador to the United States.

For more information, please visit International Rivers Network’s webpage at www.irn.org.

Edited and abridged from the original.

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Global Call to Action: Stop the Salween Dams in Burma

On September 21, 2006 join activists from around the world.

Stand up in solidarity with Burma's victims of severe and systematic human rights violations and environmental destruction. Protest against the Thai government's plans with the Burmese military dictatorship to dam the Salween River in Burma.

Join us and gather outside your Thai embassy or consulate to call for the complete halt of the dam plans on the Salween River, where:

Civil War is raging in the area around the dam sites and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced at gunpoint.
Dams are being used as a military strategy against the ethnic peoples of Burma.
Torture, rape, and killings of villagers are continuing as more soldiers are being deployed and more landmines laid.
Dams will provide financial support to the military junta, and corruption is inevitable given the lack of transparency in governance and decision-making.

The dams will permanently degrade Southeast Asia's longest free flowing river's fisheries, floodplains, teak forests and wildlife habitats, and flood villages and fertile agricultural land.

What Can You Do?

Demonstrate in front of your local Thai Embassy/Consulate on September 21, 2006. Contact your Thai embassy and express your concerns.

Sign the petition letter online at http://www.petitiononline.com/9202006/petition.html.

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Nature Group Influences Plans for Dams with a Grant from Caterpillar
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/082506/REG_BAOP00ND.012.shtml

By Elaine Hopkins, Peoria Journal Star

August 25, 2006

PEORIA - Using a $2.5 million grant from Caterpillar Inc. [a multi-national construction-equipment corporation], The Nature Conservancy is developing a national conservation plan for China, as well as plans to save its major rivers from devastation as hydroelectric dams are constructed there.

The work is focusing on a unique area in southwest China where four great rivers run parallel within 55 miles of each other, producing great canyons, alpine forests 12,000 feet high, and countless flowers and herbs that are the basis for Chinese medicine, one Nature Conservancy staffer said.

China is determined to build the dams, so The Nature Conservancy hopes to influence their design and where they are built, to do the least damage to the rivers and their ecosystems.

"The Nature Conservancy says economic development has to happen, so (we) work with the people to allow it to happen in the least destructive way," said a staff member of the Nature Conservancy in China.

Edited and abridged from the original.

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China's Sinohydro and EGAT to Jointly Develop Hat Gyi Dam Project
http://www.probeinternational.org/tgp/print.cfm?ContentID=15753

June 27, 2006

China's Sinohydro Group and Thailand's EGAT recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly develop the Hat Gyi hydroelectric station on Nu-Salween River in the largest-ever joint project among China, Thailand and Myanmar.

Sinohydro will not only act as the major investor, but also the major contractor for the design, procurement and implementation works of the Hat Gyi project.

Hat Gyi hydroelectric station will be the first of the five-dam cascade on the Nu-Salween River basin. Its installed capacity is 600 MW, and the project costs 1 billion USD. Both governments plan to develop five hydropower stations on Salween River, with a total installed capacity of 12,700MW.

To learn more about Sinohydro (Chinese only): http://www.sinohydro.com.cn/portlet

Edited and abridged from the original.

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Damming and Diverting Asia's Rivers: China's Hydropower Plans in Tibet

Editor’s Note: Adapted and abridged from articles by David Stanway, Breffni O’Rourke, and numerous press releases. See below for a complete list of source URLs.

After covering most of the rivers of southwestern China in dams and turbines, the big players in China’s power-generating industry - encouraged by the central government in Beijing - are now coveting Tibet, which is thought to have the biggest potential capacity of all. The completion of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, which has helped to integrate the remote, isolated region with the rest of the mainland, is likely to accelerate the process.

Earlier this year, one of the "big-five" state-owned power giants, the Huadian Group, signed an agreement with the Tibet regional government on the construction of hydropower projects. The Huaneng Group, another big-five member, signed a similar deal in September 2005, announcing that it would strive to fully develop Tibet's rivers in order to serve the requirements of the country's West-East Power Transmission Project.

These issues are crucial, not only for Tibet and not only for China. The ten major river systems that emerge from Tibet feed parts of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China, and thus supply water to perhaps more than a billion persons.

India has already expressed concerns about China's plans to build dams on the Brahmaputra, which originates in the Himalayas and then runs through Tibet, India and Bangladesh before reaching the Indian Ocean. Large-scale hydropower development will have significant, long-term downstream impacts on riverine ecosystems and the human livelihoods dependent on them, many believe.

On a local level, experts - from both the exiled Tibetan community and among hydropower critics in China itself - have suggested that the construction of hydropower stations on Tibet's untouched and fragile rivers is likely to be disastrous in a region where the Chinese government has already been accused of "ecocide".

Asked whether large-scale hydropower development was suitable for Tibet, Fan Xiao, professor at the Sichuan Bureau of Geology and an active environmental campaigner, said, "Of course not. It is the place where several rivers originate. The environment in Tibet is rather fragile."

Outside experts agree. The California-based Tibet Justice Center (www.tibetjustice.org) an NGO seeking to defend Tibetans' rights, says that the headwaters of Asia's major river systems are increasingly threatened by these water-control projects, all designed to meet China's thirst for water and energy.

Tashi Tsering, a Tibetan expert on natural resources at Canada's University of British Columbia, says the project is "definitely not meant to develop Tibet," in part because there are no benefits for the local people from areas where the water is being diverted.

"One proof of this is simply the fact that until recently, most of the studies that were done on the water-diversion project were done on the recipient side, the preliminary studies -- you know, 'How much water they will get?' [or] 'How much it will cost?' and, 'What will be the impact?'" Tsering notes.

These questions were asked much later and very rarely on the Tibetan side, and Tsering says it is very clear where the power dynamics lie. But he says it is not necessary to view this issue as a China verses Tibet contest.

"It has been the pattern of the Chinese government, wherever there are large-scale water diversion projects, that the local people who are affected are not addressed," he says.

Tsering continued, saying that the official Chinese media constantly refers to Tibet as if it is an inexhaustible source of water. But this is false: Tibet is an arid area with very little rainfall. Even Chinese studies have concluded that glaciers are the real source of much of the water in these rivers, and they are melting fast as the climate warms. At the current rate of glacial retreat, they suggest, much of Tibet's waters within a few decades.

Meanwhile, the sort of extensive deforestation that has caused so much damage in northwestern China, leading to soil erosion and silt build-ups in the upstream Yellow River, is now taking its toll in Tibet.

For China as a whole, the silt-ridden Yellow and Yangtze rivers require constant replenishment from Tibet. This week, government officials revealed ambitious plans to siphon Tibetan water into the arid, desertified northwest of China, where meager water flows are eked out by almost negligible levels of rainfall. Hydropower engineers in Tibet need to consider the costs of dam building in a region that plays a crucial role in the country's water supplies.

"Tibet has abundant hydropower resources, but we should first satisfy the power demands of Tibet itself," said Lu Youmei, the former chief of the Three Gorges Project Corporation and one of the most vocal advocates of the national hydropower boom. "And we should take time to plan and research the development of the Brahmaputra, which is rich in hydropower, for construction in the future."

According to one survey the Tibet Autonomous Region can likely sustain some 110,000 MW of capacity, second only to Sichuan Province. Only about 500 MW of capacity is currently in operation, according to government figures disclosed earlier this year.

State media reported this year that the biggest hydropower station in Tibet so far, the 100-MW Zhikong project on the Kyichu River (a tributary of the Brahmaputra), is planned to go into operation later this year at a cost of RMB 1.34 bln (USD 167.5 million.

Meanwhile, officials with the Tibet Power Corporation assert that the central government is focusing on the development of the Brahmaputra itself. With theoretical capacity of 67,850 MW The Brahmaputra is thought to have the second biggest hydropower potential in China, behind the Yangtze, but it has so far remained mostly untouched.

Editor’s Note: For related, contributing articles, please visit the following websites:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/08/01/business/river.php
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP237476.htm
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=13415&t=1
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK203233.htm

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Activists Hail Guidelines on Public Input into Projects
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14571193/
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/8/28/worldupdates/2006-08-28T104002Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-265127-1&sec=Worldupdates
http://www.threegorgesprobe.org/tgp/print.cfm?ContentID=14893

By Kelly Haggart and Mu Lan

February 22, 2006

China's top environmental agency today issued a groundbreaking set of guidelines on the public's right to participate in decision-making on large construction projects such as big dams.

The State Environmental Protection Administration's (SEPA) highly anticipated new measures, which take effect on March 18, are explicitly aimed at ushering in an era of openness in a traditionally secretive sphere.

"This is the first official document on public involvement in the environmental sector, which will make government decisions in the sector more transparent and democratic," Xinhua quoted SEPA deputy director Pan Yue as saying.? Involvement of the public must be conducted in "an open, equal, extensive and convenient way."

"The lack of transparency in decision-making has resulted in disputes on environmental impact and even mass unrest after the completion of many construction projects," Mr. Pan told Xinhua.

Five methods are to be used to facilitate public participation in the EIA process: opinion surveys, expert panels, forums or informal discussions, feasibility studies and hearings. Activists in China's burgeoning environmental sector, who have become increasingly vocal in advocating for the rights of communities affected by potentially harmful projects, welcomed SEPA's guidelines.

Wang Yongchen, a journalist and founder of the Beijing-based Green Earth Volunteers, said the new measures give her hope because, for the first time in China, they legitimize the public's right to participate in environmental protection.

"The institutionalization of public participation in the EIA process is a sign of progress and a reflection of social change," she told Shanghai's Morning Post. “Now the public does have the right to more information, and to participate and voice opinions with a view to influencing those decisions."

"I hope these measures can spread to every corner of China, especially in some remote areas, to wake up local people's awareness of protecting the environment," she added.

Professor He Daming, director of the Asian International Rivers Research Centre in Kunming, Yunnan province, also hailed the guidelines. He has questioned the plan to dam the Nu (Salween) River, which China shares with Burma and Thailand. "This 'green law' fills a gap in environmental legislation and policy, and makes it easier for activists to monitor and participate in construction projects," Prof. He said. "This also legitimizes the right of affected groups to express their views on projects that will have an impact on their lives."

Edited and abridged from the original.

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Rules Ignored, Toxic Sludge Sinks Chinese Village

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/04/world/asia/04pollution.html

By Jim Yardley

September 4, 2006

An April 10 industrial spill from two paper mills was a small-scale environmental disaster in a country with too many of them. But Sugai, a village in Inner Mongolia, should have been different. The two mills had already been sued in a major case, fined and ordered to upgrade their pollution equipment after a serious spill into the Yellow River in 2004.

The official response to that spill, praised by the state-run news media, seemed to showcase a new, tougher approach toward pollution — until the later spill at Sugai revealed that local officials had never carried out the cleanup orders. Now, the destruction of Sugai is a lesson in the difficulty of enforcing environmental rules in China.

There is no shortage of environmental laws and regulations in China, many of them passed in recent years by a central government trying to address one of the worst pollution problems in the world. But those problems persist, in part, because environmental protection is often subverted by local protectionism, corruption and regulatory inefficiency….

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