WASHINGTON, June 20, 2003--Officials in western China and a well-connectedBeijing firm are lobbying to build a new hydroelectric dam in anhistorically Tibetan area of Sichuan Province, despite concerns that itwould harm the local environment, Radio Free Asia (RFA) has learned. Thecontroversy has reached the highest levels of the Chinese government.
Local leaders in Karze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in what is now SichuanProvince, and the Hua Neng Co. of Beijing, have drafted plans for a 2billion yuan ($300 million U.S.) hydroelectric dam on Yeti Lake, known inChinese as Kangding Mugecuo Lake. Hua Neng Co. is owned by the son of formerChinese premier Li Peng.
Under their plan, Hua Neng Co., owned by Li Xiaopeng, and Karze Prefecturewould share the cost of building the dam, although how much each party wouldpay was unclear. They would also share revenues generated by the dam, withHua Neng taking 60 percent and the prefecture taking 40 percent, accordingto sources who asked not to be identified.
But Tibetans in the area have raised objections to the project onenvironmental grounds, arguing that any such dam would have disastrousconsequences for local wildlife. Yeti Lake is under the protection of theKarze Prefecture Environmental Protection Bureau.
Local people protested in a letter to Tibetan officials, apparently in May,and asked them to block the project. One official sent the letter to PremierWen Jiabao, who dispatched an inter-agency task force to the region toinvestigate. Upon returning to Beijing, they reported that the planned damwould boost local incomes and failed to detail any environmental concerns,the sources told RFA's Tibetan service.
But Tibetan officials remained skeptical and differed openly with members ofthe task force and Hua Neng Co. officials at a meeting June 13. The Tibetanofficials and the task force have now taken the highly unusual step ofsending contradictory reports to the State Council, which has the authorityto block construction of the dam.
The Hua Neng Co. has since begun lobbying Karze officials to back theproject, flying a group of them to Beijing to meet Central governmentofficials.
No comment was immediately available from the Hua Neng Co. or the localauthorities.
Yeti (Kangding Mugecuo) Lake is located in Dartsedo (in Chinese, Kanding) inan historically Tibetan area now under the administration of SichuanProvince. In recent years China has scrambled to generate enough energy tokeep pace with economic growth. Bejing is going ahead with construction ofthe Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River--which is officially expected tocost at least $24 billion U.S. but could cost triple that amount.
RFA broadcasts news and information to Asian listeners who lack regularaccess to full and balanced reporting in their domestic media. Through itsbroadcasts and call-in programs, RFA aims to fill a critical gap in thelives of people across Asia. Created by Congress in 1994 and incorporated in1996, RFA currently broadcasts in Burmese, Cantonese, Khmer, Korean, Lao,Mandarin, the Wu dialect, Vietnamese, Tibetan (Uke, Amdo, and Kham), andUyghur. It adheres to the highest standards of journalism and aims toexemplify accuracy, balance, and fairness in its editorial content.