The Unfolding Tragedy Of China's Three Gorges Dam

Media are welcome to attend a special public lecture in Victoria by leading Chinese environmental activist Dai Qing on “the most environmentally and socially destructive project in the world”—the Three Gorges dam.
       Hosted by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), this free event will be held at the University of Victoria’s Fraser (Law) Building, room 159, on Monday, Nov. 8 from 7.30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
       Dai Qing earned her worldwide reputation for fearless activism in China most notably in her battle against the world’s largest hydroelectric project, the Three Gorges dam. Last month the dam’s 600-plus kilometre reservoir reportedly reached full capacity for the first time since it began generating power in 2008—highlighting its role as a driver behind China’s economic boom but reigniting concerns about the dam’s major environmental impacts. These include pollution, an increased risk of landslides and earthquakes, and the potential failure of the dam due to debris clogging up the reservoir. To date more than 1.4 million people have been displaced as well as prime agricultural land and antiquities destroyed.
        Dai’s book criticising the controversial project, Yangtze! Yangtze!, earned her 10 months in a maximum-security prison after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. She has subsequently published many other journals, articles and books in her fight for human rights, democracy and environmental causes. Prior to her call to activism, she worked as a missile technician and an intelligence agent.

 
   WHAT:               Lecture: China’s Three Gorges Dam
   WHO:                 Dai Qing, hosted by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS)
   WHEN:               7:30 p.m.– 9 p.m., Monday Nov. 8, 2010
   WHERE:             Fraser (Law) Building, Room 159, University of Victoria
   Live Webcast:   http://www.pics.uvic.ca/broadcast.php

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Note to editors: Interviews with Dai Qing can be arranged by contacting the PICS communications staff.