(i) HUMAN RIGHTS
As reported by the Human Rights Watch:
One crucial aspect of the Three Gorges dam project is that the project has caused major human rights violations.
There are two main issues of concern: First, the Chinese government's continuing suppression of dissenting viewpoints on the Three Gorges dam including a decade-long tight restriction on public information and debate, extending even to the actual arrests of political activists; and Second, the forced resettlement of more than one million inhabitants of the Three Gorges reservoir area and the rights of workers on the dam site.
One crucial aspect of the Three Gorges dam project is that the project has caused major human rights violations.
There are two main issues of concern: First, the Chinese government's continuing suppression of dissenting viewpoints on the Three Gorges dam including a decade-long tight restriction on public information and debate, extending even to the actual arrests of political activists; and Second, the forced resettlement of more than one million inhabitants of the Three Gorges reservoir area and the rights of workers on the dam site.
EVIDENCE OF HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS:
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(ii) Violation of Cultural/Social Policies
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For years, the Yangtze River- the longest in Asia, has played an important role in China's history and culture. The Yangtze is quintessentially Chinese as the Nile is Egyptian and the Rhine is German." - Rebecca Mackinon
(iii) Violation of Environmental Laws
There are a total of forty-seven rare or endangered species in the Three Gorges Dam area that are protected by Chinese national law.
This includes the Chinese River Dolphin- the Baiji. The only natural habitat of the Chinese River Dolphin was the Yangtze River, and there were less than one-hundred of these endangered dolphins in the river before dam construction. The construction of the dam covered a significant amount of the dolphins’ natural habitat. The government planned to sustain the River Dolphin and other endangered species by creating natural reserves and artificial spawning programs. It should be noted that past attempts to relocate the Yangtze River Dolphin have failed dolphins in the river. As of 2006, the River Dolphin became functionally extinct. |
As we can see, in terms of Human Rights, the Chinese Government has violated major human rights such as the freedom of speech, expression and the right to peacefully protest. International Organizations have attempted to bring this issue to the government and solve it, but they’ve failed, as the Chinese Government has ignored their opinions. In terms of cultural and environmental laws, the government did incorporate laws and did implicate them to a certain extent, however due to lack of monitoring by the government and proper effort into the actual execution of these laws, these policies can be considered by their results, as failures.