The Controversy of the Three Gorges Dam in China

The Three Gorges Dam, situated on the Yangtzee River in the Hubei province of China is the largest hydroelectric power plant in the world. It's over 104 meters in height and it's 2.4 kilometers long. Now this Dam has been, for the past two decades, an apex of controversy. The construction of this dam has led to the relocation of nearly 1.5 million people, all of whom would recieve compensation from the government. Not only has this occured, but major environmental precautions have been taken in order for the Dam to properly operate. Archaeological sites, as well as ancient cities have been flooded and the government of China has done all of this with a total expenditure of $59billion.

Unfortunately, people outside of China (some within as well) do not understand the real root of the problem though. It lies not within the fact that the Three Gorges Dam was built, nor that the people were relocated. As we know, such a project, which would produce tons of clean hydroenergy, provides a good substitute for the primary source of Chinese energy, coal. This project would also prove that China is attempting to, although it is categorized as a developing nation and has lesser responsibility than developed nations, abide by the emmissions reduction plan of the Kyoto Protocol. A fundamental aspect when dealing with global warming is adaptability and this project would indeed lead China to adapt itself to clean energy and wane itself off of pollutant fossil fuels. So wouldn't this project actually have positive feedback from both within China and around the world?  

No, and here's why. The problem lies within the public-private rulemaking process. Now make sure you're reading, because this is a very important aspect of democratic legitimacy. Before the project was going to be built, none of the citizens in the would-be-affected areas were open to a transparent(meaning available information to all) dialogue on the dam building process. Not only did the project lack transparency, it lacked inclusiveness(meaning that all stakeholders, or affected parties of the project, would be able to voice their opinion, concern, or even praise for the project). Not only were the affected citizens promised over 40% of the budget for the Three Gorges Dam as compensation, they were promised new homes and equal if not better lifestyles. This, as we see now in 2012, has not been the case. The new homes have been weakly built and rushed, most of the compensation from the federal government which was directed toward the affected people, was taxed unfairly by local governments, and the lifestyles of many of the people who have moved have deteriorated with time and lack of resources. The failure of the public sector(the government) to keep its promises and the private sector(corporations involved in the dam construction) to allow civil society to stand up for themselves, proves to be a fatal flaw in democratic legitimacy. This project could indeed have been an appropriate and legitimate dam building process(as is appropriate in the Nov. 2000 report from the World Commission on Dams), but China's unwillingness to utilize democratic means to achieve development status creates yet again a human rights issue. Until China changes it's ways towards reaching development, it will remain an ugly hegemonic alternative to the United States. Let's see sow things change within the next 20 years.

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