Three-Gorges discussion decleared dead again

Remember this wave of honesty hitting news agency Xinhua when it quoted a scientist who confirmed the worst environmental fear concerning the Three Gorges Dam? Well, those days are over and Beijing Newspeak does an excellent job in documenting the short-lived internal bureaucratic struggle.

The candid discussion about the Three Gorges project in September is widely believed to have been conducted for political purposes. By releasing this news ahead of the 17th Communist Party Congress, Hu Jintao and co could distance themselves away from a project that they inherited rather than implemented. The change in heart did deserve applause no matter whether or not it was engineered. Ecological ills can’t be repaired by denials. But it wasn’t much fun for the Three Gorges officials attending the congress. They entered the Great Hall of the People as fellow Party members sniggered behind their backs at the woeful job they had been doing.

In the long run, Hu Jintao had to back off again, just like he had to do is so many other bureaucratic backlashes against the intention of the central government to really put the environment high on the political agenda.