The relocated people of the Three Gorges

The Three Gorges Dam spans the Yangtze River in central China bordering on the province of Hubei and the autonomous municipality of Chongqing. Its concrete structure was completed in 2003, and since then water is rising inexorably. The last families will leave their lands by 2009, when the dam becomes completely operational. The water level will have then reached its maximum (175 meters above sea level), the mechanical ship lifts and turbines will be completed. The project originally envisioned by Sun Yat-Sen in 1919, revived by Chiang Kaishek, Mao Zedong and finally by Deng Xiaoping, has always provoked controversies. All along the XXth century, it had triggered fierce debates in China and abroad, and was finally adopted by the National People's Congress in 1992. Afterwards, it entailed the national opponents to be more tactful, while the international NGOs, especially Probe International – International Rivers Network, continued to denounce the project. Dai Qing, a Party dignitary's daughter and freelance journalist who has become the opponents' leader, was able to voice her opinion unrelentingly in this way. Since the 1980s she has not stopped challenging the justification for this dam

The active opponents are above all intellectuals. They are mainly critical of the destruction of archeological sites, security problems - construction on a seismic zone -, water pollution blocking free flow and non-recognition of human cost. They hold that three small dams (or a lower one) could have produced as much electricity without displacing so many people. Local residents set up petitions but on the whole they have resigned themselves.

For the proponents of the project, first of all energy, a crying need for China, had to be provided using diversified production means. The dam should procure 17680 MW, an energy cleaner than what coal-fired thermic plants can generate, and less dangerous than nuclear power plants. It is obvious that “the biggest dam in the world” adds prestige to the country in the eyes of Chinese leaders.

One could believe that, faced with the inexorable, internal opposition would have fallen silent for good, but the debate took a new turn in October 2007 following official communiqués published in the Chinese press and widely circulated by the international press. In the course of one month articles were published in Chinese newspapers almost everyday.

On the verge of the opening of the 17^th congress of the Communist Party of China, the press agency Xinhua reported the statements of the Vice-Mayor of Chongqing, Yu Yuanmu, announcing the relocation of 4 million people following the completion of the Three Gorges Dam (on 11^th October 2007). While the 1992 estimations for population relocation were about 800.000, a figure today re-evaluated at about 1.2 million, the amazing fact was that an official source reported 4 million. The opponents indicate a figure of more than 2 million but 1.8 million would be closer to reality. Doubling the estimations seems to be incomprehensible. After the publication of articles reporting the Vice-Mayor's statements, a communiqué indicating a wrong interpretation was made public.

The controversy focused on the still unfinished work of relocating flood-hit populations and ecology-related problems. President Wen Jiabao has emphasized the importance he attached to environmental protection several times. The opponents thought they could use it as a means to make themselves heard. Before the constrction of the dam, pollution generated by factories, mines and lack of sewage systems drained out into the waves of the Yangtze River. It is now retained in the reservoir, making life difficult for the residents. Chinese specialists recorded the water toxicity but finding a solution for it seems very difficult. Besides, the municipality of Chongqing cannot bear extra financial cost due to pollution control. Finally the recent risen number of landslides on the rise is an additional cause of concern. It is interesting to note that all the above-mentioned information was provided by Chongqing municipality officials themselves, during official speeches or discussions. The Chongqing Vice-Mayor's statement cited above was made a few weeks after the publication of Wang Xiaofeng's objectives, Director of the Three Gorges Dam Construction Committee under the State Council, indicating that environment was being endangered with major problems likely to lead to serious long term consequences for local populations.

Therefore it seems that between September and the beginning of the Congress, criticisms about the dam were allowed and top officials did not hesitate to denounce existing problems. In spite of these public stands, the central government has not reacted.

What is really going on?

The statements made by the Vice-Mayor of Chongqing are an acknowledgement of major problems in the Three Gorges region, first of all, the one involving people's displacement. According to the general philosophy of the project, it was planned that only 10 % of the people relocated had to leave their district of origin, while 90 % had to settle down on the hills, below 600 meters of altitude because beyond, crops cannot any longer grow normally and fruit trees wither. A first group of residents was moved to mountain slopes but this solution quickly turned out to be inappropriate.

The geography of the region explains the problems which arise now. Valleys and plains add up to 4.3 % of the reservoir's total surface area, hills 21 % and the mountains 74 %. The plans designed in 1992 have been questioned by a new regulation, adopted in 2001, specifying that land should not be cultivated on slopes of 25 % and above. The steep slopes are prone to regular landslides, especially during rainy seasons. These phenomena existed already before the construction of the dam but it seems that the weight of the water in the reservoir has made the soil more fragile.

According to senior officials in charge of population resettlement in the Municipality of Chongqing, the case of people having been moved before the new regulations came into operation cannot be revised for the moment because there are still two other groups of persons to be relocated. But their situation is precarious: they find themselves in a risky and a less productive zone instead of the fertile lands they were cultivating along the river. It is already 4 years since specialists made investigations in villages along the river between Yichang (where the dam is located) and Chongqing to list dangerous areas. This is why on the front wall of some houses one can see an official document certifying that they are dangerous. However, so far, no practical measure has been taken.

Announcing that 4 million people had to be moved due to the Three Gorges Dam was acknowledging the powerless of local authorities faced with a risk of major disaster. Once again the central government was asked to release more funds.

Making a public declaration before the Congress meeting was perhaps one way of drawing the delegates' attention to pending practical issues. However, in 2003, there were big ceremonies to celebrate the completion of the dam, coinciding with the previous Congress. But beyond the indisputable technical feat, national leaders still consider the human cost in a subsidiary manner, for them everything is already over by now. For Chongqing's authorities on the other hand, population already relocated and the one to come form a human and above all financial enormous burden. No special funds have been allocated to help previously relocated person who currently live on mountain slopes in the fear of having their house collapsing any moment. Nothing was planned for those who were already living on the hills and are not administratively considered as displaced from the Three Gorges, even though they have to face the same uncertainties.

The statements of the Mayor of Chongqing, Wang Hongju (re-elected on 28th January 2008) slightly shift the focus of the debate, not by denying problems that exist in the reservoir area, but by insisting on the fact that people will willingly leave their villages fifteen years from now to go and look for work in the city. However, he has not officially refuted his deputy's remarks. In fact, he has put the emphasis on a generalized phenomenon in China since the 1980s, that of the drift away from the land in favor of cities. The Three Gorges region has not experienced this migratory movement as quickly as other provinces, due to its isolation. Since a decade, local senior officials who encourage this phenomenon regard it as a way of developing the villages with the money earned by economic migrants. The studies conducted by researchers of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences indicate that the majority of young people looking for jobs remain in their native province. Chongqing is already attracting many of them and is likely to continue to do so, even if the economic activity does not allow the absorption of such a large number of unskilled manpower.

The arrival of a new Secretary of the Party, Bo Xilai (since December 2007), will perhaps renew the way to deal with questions linked to the dam. It is a decisive test for the progress of his future career and one hope he will be very eager to find solutions. His tenure as Minister of Commerce and Mayor of Dalian will come in handy to help him develop the local economy. Nevertheless, it seems hardly realistic for him to settle currently pending issues without a sizeable financial contribution from the central government.

As for families displaced far away from their native village, some have been luckier than others. Shanghai is considered to be a good destination, however the majority of young people (less than 40 years old) have left to look for more job opportunities in other cities or have returned to Chongqing to earn their life thanks to networks that they have kept back there. It happens that competition on the unqualified job market is very hard inShanghai. The situation is even more difficult for those who were relocated in the province of Jiangsu, where many families are more destitute now than before. Senior officials abandoned some destinations like the island of Hainan and the province of Xinjiang.

Discussions about the human cost of the Three Gorges Dam resettlement are not on the agenda and it is unlikely that the fate of displaced people will improve in a significant way in the near future.