Hu Jintao was elected President of the People's Republic of China on 15 March 2003. In our previous issue we described China's system of rule and government, we know that he is appointed by the most elite levels of the Party and that the position of General Secretary of the Party and Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission are key power positions.
Hu Jintao was born in Anhui Province in December 1942. Anhui is one of China's flood-prone provinces. His study in the Water Conservancy Engineering Department of Tsinghua University may be a reflection of this background. He graduated as an engineer with a major in hub hydropower stations in 1964. He worked in research and teaching at Tsinghua University briefly before joining the public service in the Ministry of Water Conservancy, at the same time becoming deputy-secretary of the Communist Party branch.
His rise in Party ranks took him from Gansu to Guizhou and Tibet - the latter two as Party Secretary (i.e. the top position) where he was able to prove himself. From here to Beijing in 1992 where he joined the elite Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee and became a member of the Secretariat and President of the Party school - also a key position for networking, all students to the school being hand-picked. These roles expanded in 1999 when he became Vice President of the People's Republic and Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
His background in engineering, especially hydrology, is not unique - all of his fellow Standing Committee members (nine men) are engineers - mostly from Tsinghua University and a number of them in hydrology. This may explain the Chinese Government's preoccupation in recent years with mega-water engineering projects - first of all the Three Gorges Dam and now the water diversion project which will see water diverted from the flood prone Yangtze to the drought-afflicted Yellow River; or perhaps it is a historical fact that China has for centuries undertaken grand scale projects: the 6000 kilometre Great Wall being the best known example; also the 1800 kilometre Grand Canal extending from Beijing to Hangzhou, which was constructed over a 2,000 year period up until the Ming Dynasty. Either way, their engineering approach to solving problems comes at the expense of social solutions.
Melbourne University's Dr Mark Wang provided another example of this recently: 53 high-tech parks have been constructed in 53 cities with central government approval, while 4200 locally established high-tech parks throughout the country have seen many people forced off their land! he said at an Asialink lecture at Melbourne University (9 October, 2003).
For more information and China's political system and structure: Yes Minister, Who's Hu
DAM IT
The "mechanistic view of nature" (Gavan McCormack, ANU historian, as reported by Hamish McDonald, Age Newspaper, 31 May, 2003) is deeply rooted and a Three Gorges Dam had been advocated since Sun Yat-sen proposed it in 1919. Like the high-tech parks, many people (over a million) will and have been displaced by the project. Contracts are now being signed for the Three Gorges Power Station to sell power. Over 2.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity will be sold this year to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Henan, Hubei and Hunan provinces together with Shanghai and Chongqing. From 2004, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces will be beneficiaries. By 2009, the plant will generate almost 85 billion kilowatts of power per annum which will mainly supply eastern China. The cost is estimated at AUD$37 billion; it has a 185 metre high wall and a 600 kilometre long by 1.1 kilometre wide reservoir. There are plans to construct four more dams in the upper reaches of the Yangtze which will generate twice as much power as the Three Gorges, as well as a Tibetan superdam and a series of dams on the Mekong (Lancang) River which will impact on South Asia and South-East Asia respectively. Phoenix Television reported on 27 November 2003 that another 13 dams are being proposed for one province - Yunnan - in south-west China. All of these with a view to help solve China's power crisis.
The water diversion project is even grander, with a price tag estimate to be two times the Three Gorges cost. Work commenced in 2002 and will involve construction of three canals of at least 1300 kilometres in length one linking the Grand Canal, one in Hubei Province to involve the raising of an existing reservoir and gravity feeding, and a western canal from the upper reaches of the Yangtze to the upper reaches of the Yellow River. China's north-east with 33% of China's population has only 8% of its water. Deborah Johnson looked at the pros and cons of the project in Asian Analysis:
(Grand Scale Water Diversion Project Begins, Asian Analysis, Deborah Johnson, Faculty of Asian Studies ANU, 1 April, 2003)
"Water resource equalisation, hydroelectric power, a fiscal stimulus to the domestic economy, increased employment opportunities and flood mitigation are some of the important benefits mooted. The Yangtze basin is home to some 400 million people and floods regularly endanger life and property. Floods in June-August 2002 affected some 70-100 million people and left around 800 people dead. Yet the scheme has its critics. They remember the devastating floods in 1998, when poorly constructed levee banks collapsed worsening the impact of the floods, which left some 4,150 people dead. However, there have been efforts to crack down on profiteering and shoddy construction and to monitor the outcomes of the public bidding process.
"Then there is the loss of valuable farmland, the problem of silting, possible earthquakes and geological instability, the environmental and ecological consequences, damage to historical sites ... Such projects do not address the current problem of deforestation and inappropriate land-use, resulting in landslides, flash floods and lowered water retention rates. The Yangtze itself has been facing drought, with December 2002 water levels dropping to a 10-year low. Per capita water reserves in the Yangtze River valley have slid from 2,700 cubic metres in 1980 to 2,100 cubic metres last year."
We will have to wait and see the outcomes of China's grand water projects and whether the huge price tag can be justified!
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