BEIJING, Feb 12 (Reuter) - China plans to increase spending on construction
of the Three Gorges dam by three billion yuan ($361.4 million) in 1996,
an official of the cabinet's Three Gorges office said on Monday. The government
envisages spending 8.2 billion yuan ($988 million) in 1996 to meet price
increases, the official said by telephone. The planned increase in spending
is designed to ensure the Yangtze river is dammed by 1997, Xinhua news
agency said.
The government had budgeted seven billion yuan ($843.4 million) for the
dam's construction in 1995, but only five billion yuan ($602.4 million)
was actually spent, the official said. Since 1993, 11.5 billion yuan ($1.39
billion) has been spent on the dam, Xinhua said. The project -- the world's
biggest water control project -- is estimated to cost $30 billion in total.
An official of the Three Gorges Development Co, which oversees construction
of the project, said part of China's foreign exchange reserves of $80 billion
could be used to financeent may seek foreign loans to finance the project.
Aimed at putting a halt to seasonal flooding and providing an additional
85 billion kilowatt hours per year for China, the gigantic project has
drawn fire from within China and abroad about environmental and human rights
concerns. The project will create a 660-km (410-mile) long reservoir in
central Hubei province, submerging 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) of farmland
and 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of forest. An estimated 1.1 million people
are expected to be relocated when the entire dam project is completed in
the year 2009. The U.S. government opposes offering official assistance
to the huge project because of environmental concerns.
REUTER
毎日新聞ニュース速報
動脈のように走る急流、悠久の時を刻んだ断がい絶壁の奇観−−。杜甫や李白らが好んで詩に詠んだ中国・長江（楊子江）の「三峡」地域。この絶景を船で遊ぶ三峡下りが、ここ二、三年静かなブームだ。近畿日本ツーリストは「二〇〇九年に完成する三峡ダムで水没する運命の絶景を今のうちに見ておこうというのが人気の秘密」と話す。
六千三百キロ。中国最長の大河である長江をせき止める三峡ダムは世界最大のダム計画だ。えん堤は高さ一七五ｍ、長さ二・三キロ。水力発電の千八百二十万キロＷは現在の国内発電力の一割弱に相当する。 三峡下りの終着点の湖北省・宜昌から車で上流に一時間半。一九九二年から工事が始まった三峡ダムの建設現場では、労働者一万人とパワーショベル、ダンプカーなど三千台が投入され、自然の景観はむき出しの花崗（こう）岩の岩肌に変わっていた。 昨年十一月、船舶の通り道（バイパス）となる巨大水路の掘削作業がダムの端に完成し、来年には長江の本流を止めてダム建設が本格化する。最繁忙期は三万人の労働力が必要になる。
現代版「万里の長城」とも形容されるこのビッグ・プロジェクトは、百万人を超す流域住民の立ち退きを余儀なくする。ダム建設の資金総額は二百億−二百五十億ドルの巨額といわれ、中国は一五％程度を海外融資に頼る方針だが、米政府は昨年九月、環境破壊や立ち退き問題を理由に、米輸出入銀行に三峡ダム事業への融資をしないよう要請した。宜昌にある長江三峡工程開発総公司（国営）の本社で、建設の総指揮をとる陸佑?
総経理は「中国は米国に融資を頼んでいないし、困るのはプロジェクトに参加したい米国企業だけだ」と反発した。
陸総経理によると、第一の建設目的は電力ではなく洪水対策だ。長江下流域は過去二千年の間、十年に一回の洪水に悩まされてきた。その被害を百年に一回に減らせるという。そして電力確保と水運力の増強が続いての目的だ。ダム上流の重慶までの六百キロがダム湖となって水位が上がり、一万トンの船の航行が可能になる。 何より「三峡ダムは環境にいい」というのが中国政府の主張だ。「この水力発電は四千万トンの石炭に相当し、大気汚染の原因になる石炭を使わないですむ。酸性雨対策になり、日本や世界の環境にとってもいいことだ」と陸総経理。
しかし反対の声を強引に抑え込んできたのも事実だ。周培源・元北京大学長（故人）ら、ダム建設に反対の学者らの論文・インタビューを掲載した「長江長江−三峡工程論争」が発禁となり、米の非政府組織（ＮＧＯ）情報では九二年、立ち退き反対の地元住民百七十八人が逮捕された。
「長江長江」の邦訳本を近く出す鷲見一夫・新潟大教授（国際関係法）は「ダムの本当の狙いは電力不足になる上海への送電だ」と指摘する。 昨秋、三峡地域を視察した教授は驚いた。ダム上流の両岸は水の汚水が大量に流れ込み、たまる。環境・人権より、とにかく電力をという中国のあせりがみえた。 今年前半にはプロジェクト中、最大の大型発電機の入札が行われ、日本からは三菱重工業など四社が合同で参加する予定だ。鷲見教授は「中国は受注の条件に日本の融資を求めるだろう。融資は中国の環境悪化に日本政府が手を貸すことになる」と警告を発している。（アジア取材班）＝つづく
[1996-02-17-00:42]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Jane Macartney
BEIJING, Feb 25 (Reuter) - Construction of China's huge Three Gorges dam
on the Yangtze river is running ahead of schedule, officials said, but
a veteran geologist warned the dam may have to be destroyed as rocks build
up behind it. If construction of the dam proceeds at the current pace,
the river could be cut in October or November 1997, the China Daily Business
Weekly on Sunday quoted Yang Qing, head of the Beijing office of the China
Yangtze Three Gorges Development Corp, as saying.
"Overall, the first phase of the construction is being accomplished
a bit ahead of schedule," Yang said. Construction of the world's biggest
water-control project, requiring a total investment of 146.8 billion yuan
($17.48 billion) from 1993 to 2003, officially began in December 1993.
Of 26 turbines needed, 12 will be bought from abroad through international
bidding, due in the first quarter, Yang said.
The dam has run into controversy at home and abroad. Some engineers and
environmentalists in China oppose the project while U.S. President Bill
Clinton's National Security Council last year advised Washington not to
offer financing because of concerns about environmental damage, human rights
abuses and the Chinese government's financial clout. W.L. Huang, a professor
at Beijing's Qinghua University, said his research showed the dam would
have to be destroyed after just a few decades because planners had underestimated
the amount of rock and grave higher than official estimates.
However, Yang appeared confident, saying that by end-1995, 108.8 million
cubic metres (3.8 billion cubic ft) of earth had been removed and 1.35
million cubic metres (47.7 million cubic ft) of cement had been poured
into place. The only delay was in building of a road linking the dam site
with the nearest city, Yichang, in central Hubei province, where the Three
Gorges Company is based, Yang said. The road, originally scheduled to open
to traffic in June, would not be ready until about three months later.
However, a bridge spanning one of the Three Gorges would be built in March,
three months ahead of schedule, he said.
Pressure to start the second phase of construction in early 1998 had not
forced the company to exceed its budget. Invested capital by end-1995 totalled
11.5 billion yuan ($1.37 billion), with 20-30 percent used as working capital,
800 million yuan ($95.2 million) spent on heavy-duty equipment and almost
7.5 billion yuan ($892.9 million) on infrastructure.
Construction of a 350- to a height of 87 metres (285 ft). By 2003, the
first turbine will have been installed on the southern bank to start generating
power. When the second phase is complete, 14 turbines and a 135-metre-high
(442-ft-high) permanent ship-lock will have been built on the southern
bank. In the final phase, the dam will be raised to a maximum height of
175 metres (574 ft) and an additional 12 turbines will be installed on
the northern bank. The dam is due to begin generating its own revenue by
2003 and by 2009, when all 26 power generating units are operating, it
will have an annual capacity of 85 billion kilowatt hours -- or one-ninth
of China's total capacity.
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, March 20 (Reuter) - China will invite bids from foreign firms
this year for 26 turbine generators with a capacity of 700 megawatts for
the huge Three Gorges dam project, Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.
A tender for the first group of 12 generators would be held in the second
quarter of 1996, Xinhua said. It did not say when bidding would be held
for the remaining 14 generators.
Xinhua described it as the world's biggest turbine generating unit and
the most attractive of all Three Gorges tenders involving foreign firms.
More than 10 firms, including South Korean, Japanese, Russian, German and
U.S. companies, have expressed interest, Xinhua said. Project officials
refused to identify the contenders. The generators are expected to go into
operation in 2003.
Construction of the world's biggest dam, requiring a total investment of
146.8 billion yuan ($17.7 billion) from 1993 to 2003, officially began
in December 1993. It is aimed at halting seasonal flooding and providing
an additional 85 billion kilowatt hours per year -- or one-ninth of China's
total.
But the gigantic project has drawn fire from within China and abroad over
environmental and human rights concerns. The project will create a 660-km-long
(410-mile) reservoir in central Hubei province, submerging 22,000 hectares
(54,000 acres) of farmland and 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of forest.
An estimated 1.1 million people are expected to be relocated when the entire
project is completed in the year 2009. The U.S. government opposes offering
official assistance to the project because of environmental concerns.
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved.
The fApril 7 (Reuter) - China's fund-raising is ahead of spending on the
world's biggest water control project, a $24 billion scheme that will dam
the mighty Yangtze river and provide one-ninth of total electricity capacity.
But the Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp is still eager
to raise money by issuing bonds soon, corporation vice president Li Yong'an
told the official Xinhua news agency in an interview issued on Sunday.
Li estimated the total cost of the project, including inflation, interest
and other factors, at 200 billion yuan ($24 billion) by the time the project
is completed in 2009.
The project will dam the Yangtze river, flood the scenic Three Gorges and
generate 85 billion kilowatt hours a year. Li offered assurances the project
would have little impact on inflation, which raced to a communist-era high
of 21.7 percent in 1994 before slipping to 14.8 percent last year. Based
on May 1995 prices, static investment in the dam was estimated at 90 billion
yuan ($10.8 billion), he said. He broke that down ovinces.
Funding was ahead of costs, Li said adding that such a situation was rare
in China's history of capital construction. A fall in construction materials
prices since May 1995, coupled with additional investment of 930 million
yuan ($112 million) in 1994 and 1995 to counter inflation, had helped.
In addition, interest costs accounted for just 16 percent of investment
with most financing from state capital, Li said.
Total investment was huge, but since the project would take 17 years to
complete, annual investment was insignificant in terms of China's budget,
he said. In 1995, China put 6.5 billion yuan ($780 million) into the project,
or just 0.11 percent of gross national product. By end-February, China
had poured 13 billion yuan into the dam, against actually raising 14.2
billion yuan.
The Three Gorges Foundation income comes from two sources -- tax payments
levied on electricity consumers and the diversion of revenue from the Gezhouba
Power Station, also on the Yangtze and China's largest so far. These two
measures could raise 100 billion yuan, or half of total investment, he
said. The State Development Bank, one of three major policy banks, has
pledged 3.0 billion yuan in loans a year from 1993 to 2003. The Three Gorges
Foundation and bank loans will contribute more than 130 billion yuan, or
65 percent of total investment.
From 2003, its generators go into operation, thus ensuring repayment of
15 percent of total investment before 2007, when the project will begin
to pay for itself. The project is still expected to be short of 40 billion
yuan up to 2007, with the shortfall to be covered by export credits, overseas
stock issues, foreign commercial bank loans, domestic bond issues, loans
from domestic commercial banks and exclusive loans from foreign exchange
reserves.
The first bonds would be entrusted to China's current debt issuing organisations,
Li said, without identifying them. In the long term, the corporation was
considering acting as the issuer of bonds on the international capital
market, Li saificials have said China might issue an initial $200 million
tranche this year, although they said no dam equity would be floated overseas
until the 21st century.
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, April 10 (Reuter) - Archaeologists have found relics up to 6,000
years old during excavations for central China's Three Gorges dam project,
the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday. More than 20,000 square metres
(4.9 acres) of land at historical sites has been excavated in search of
hidden treasures, Xinhua said. These sites are soon to be flooded for the
creation of a huge reservoir in the Three Gorges.
The discoveries have particularly contributed to historians' understanding
of the origin and development of China's written characters, it said. Diggers
unearthed items made from pottery, jade, copper, iron and porcelain. Relics
were found dating back to the Neolithic period, more than 6,000 years ago,
and from major Chinese dynasties ranging from the ancient Xia dynasty (2100-1600
BC) through the Qing (1644-1911) dynasty, Xinhua said.
China's decision to go ahead with the construction of the massive dam across
the Yangtze River's Three Gorges, a showpiece for China's development,
sparked protest
時事通信ニュース速報
【北京24日ＡＦＰ＝時事】新華社通信が二十四日伝えたところによると、世界最大級の中国三峡ダム・プロジェクトの水力発電設備の国際入札を今年第二・四半期中に行うことになった。同入札には日本のほか、ロシア、欧州、カナダ・ドイツの四企業連合が応札する予定という。
三峡は湖北省の長江（揚子江）流域にあり、二十六基の発電設備（七十万キロワット）を建設する。建設コストは二百四十億ドルに上る見込み。このうち十四基が国際入札に付される。同発電設備の入札は、当初、昨年中に予定されていたが、数回にわたり延期されている。
日本の企業連合には、日立製作所、東芝、三菱電機、三菱重工業、三井物産、伊藤忠商事が参加する。
[1996-04-25-12:36]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Mark O'Neill
SHANGHAI, May 20 (Reuter) - China's giant Three Gorges Dam project on the
Yangtze River will need $3-5 billion in foreign capital to finance the
import of equipment and technology, a senior project official said on Monday.
Yuan Guolin, vice president of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development
Corp, said in an interview that firms that did not offer concessional finance
in their bids risked losing out to those that did.
The Three Gorges is the world's biggest dam, requiring a total investment
of 240 billion yuan ($28.9 billion) over its 17-year construction period
that began in 1993, according to a corporation statement given to reporters.
It will create a 660-km (410-mile) reservoir in central Hubei province,
submerging 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) of farmland and 7,000 hectares
(17,000 acres) of forest. It is aimed at halting seasonal flooding and
providing an additional 85 billion kilowatt hours per year -- or one ninth
of China's total.
But it has drawn fire from home and abroad over environmental and human
rights concerns. Yuan told a news conference that the project was proceeding
on target, with 40,000 people so far relocated out of the total of 1.1
million who will be moved.
Of the total finance amount, China will need $3-5 billion in the form of
foreign currency, concessionary loans, shares or bonds, he said. Merrill
Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Nomura Securities have carried out feasibility
studies and think that, at the appropriate time, the firm could issue a
bond worldwide, he said. He declined to give the bond amount, term or interest
rate but said that it would be less than 30 years.
To date, the corporation has spent $100 million on importing technology
and equipment from Canada, United States, Japan and Germany, he said. Foreign
firms making bids should submit a concessionary finance package at the
same time, Yuan said. He said having concessionary financing was not a
precondition for a bid but would be an advantage, he said. If two similar
bids came, one with a concessionary loan and one without, the former would
win, he said.
The U.S. government opposes offering official assistance to the project
because of environmental concerns. He said he had recently visited the
U.S. Eximport Bank, which has so far declined to give financing to the
project. "I feel that their attitude to the Three Gorges project has
been affected by various factors. I believe they will change their attitude
one day," he said, adding that the longer they waited the less chance
U.S. companies had of taking part. The U.S. Eximport Bank should follow
the German example, to separate politics from business, he said. "Americans
are very direct but often do something they will regret later," he
said. ($1 - 8.3 yuan)
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, May 28 (Reuter) - Chinese Premier Li Peng has waxed lyrical in
his eagerness to sing the praises of the controversial Three Gorges dam
project on which he has staked his reputation, the Xinhua news agency said
on Tuesday. Li's "Song of the Yangtze," written especially for
what will be the world's largest water control project, had "stunned"
a Beijing audience when it debuted in early May, Xinhua said. "Even
the Chinese premier had a poetic mood for the world's largest dam,"
the official agency said. Li penned the poem in praise of the mammoth dam,
which is intended to end seasonal flooding on the mighty Yangtze River
and ease central China's electricity shortage, and it was set to music
by renowned composer Nu Yuan, Xinhua said.
Li has been the prime proponent of the dam, which has been widely criticised
for its design and its effect on the environment, and on the hundreds of
thousands of people to be displaced in central Sichuan and Hubei provinces.
Li's song goes: "Beneath the towering Kunlun mountains The endless
Yangtze flows to the east Gazing at the vast fields and rivers of Sichuan
We find outstanding people everywhere Just like stars twinkling in space."
The late Chairman Mao Zedong, renowned as a poet, also wrote a verse about
the dam, which was 70 years in the planning before it won approval in 1992,
Xinhua said.
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Carol Giacomo
WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuter) - Secretary of State Warren Christopher on
Wednesday reasserted U.S. opposition to China's massive "Three Gorges"
dam a day before the Export-Import Bank is to decide whether to underwrite
American companies who want a piece of the multibillion-dollar project.
"Our position has not changed on that subject," Christopher said
in answer to a question at a brief news conference with Dutch Foreign Minister
Hans van Mierlo.
"Those issues will be coming before the Ex-Im Bank but we've indicated
in the past the difficulties we have with that particular project. We've
made no change on that subject," he told reporters. The bank announced
on Wednesday that its board of directors will act on Thursday in closed
session on requests from U.S. firms to issue letters of interest for the
Three Gorges Dam project. Caterpillar Inc. has had a request pending for
seven months. The bank has begun to move quickly on China-related financing
requests after delaying decisions since February because of a Sino-American
dispute over Beijing's sale of nuclear-related technology to Pakistan.
Chinese officials have said the dam project on the Yangtze River will require
a total investment of $28.9 billion over its 17-year construction period,
including $3 billion to $5 billion in foreign capital. The Ex-Im bank is
an independent government agency that finances the sale of U.S. goods and
services around the world. But it regularly consults with agencies of the
U.S. government. The administration has recommended against Ex-Im financing
for the U.S. companies. U.S. officials have cited concerns over the project's
environmental impact, its cost and its effect on China's human rights situations.
Sometimes, the secretary of state can exercise a stronger hand in decision-making
as when Christopher in February requested that the bank delay final action
on China-related projects while he decided whether to sanction Beijing
for selling nuclear-related technology to Pakistan. That hold was lifted
earlier this month after officials negotiated a compromise under which
China agreed to halt such sales in the future and also promised to hold
export talks with Washington.
U.S. companies have been eager to get involved in the dam. But so far the
Ex-Im Bank has declined to give American firms the financing needed. Businessmen
argue that the United States is sacrificing American jobs by not helping
U.S. firms compete against firms from other regions, including Europe,
Russia and Japan. The Ex-Im decision comes at a time of great tension in
U.S.-China relations over matters relating to trade, arms proliferation,
human rights and Taiwan.
REUTER
毎日新聞ニュース速報
中国の長江（揚子江）で建設が進む三峡ダム。この世界最大級のプロジェクトと戦う中国人女性ジャーナリストがいる。「長江！長江！ 三峡工程論争」の編著者である戴晴女史。逮捕、投獄を経てもなお、プロジェクトの問題点を国際世論に訴え続けており、世界銀行やアジア開発銀行がプロジェクトへの融資を行わないと決めたのもその行動に負うところが大きい。八月に予定される水力発電設備の国際入札に向けて推進、反対の動きが活発化する中、非政府組織（ＮＧＯ）の招きで米国を訪れた戴さんに話を聞いた。
【西部学芸課・福岡賢正】
◎インタビュー カルフォルニア州バークレーにあるＮＧＯ「インターナショナル・リバーズ・ネットワーク」本部。黒いワンピース姿、柔和な笑顔の戴さんは、闘士のイメージとはほど遠い小柄な女性だった。しかし、その口から語られる言葉は鋭く、ダム計画の矛盾を的確に突いていった。
−−三峡ダムが抱える最大の問題点は。
長江は、世界でも４番目に土砂運搬量が多く、ダム湖の上流端にあたる重慶の港は常に堆砂の危機にさらされる。大洪水でもあれば、港はたちまち土砂で埋まるだろう。黄河に１９６０年に完成した三門峡ダムは、完成から２年後に堆砂問題に直面。上流の西安は水没の危険にさらされ、土砂排出設備の設置で発電能力も１２０万キロＷから２５万キロＷに激減した。三門峡で起きたことは必ず三峡でも起こる
−−水没で移転を余儀なくされる人口は。
「最終的な移転者は１５０万人とも１９０万人とも見られています。この移住に伴う開発によってさらに土砂流入量が増える。悪循環です。９２年の時点で推進派の内部資料では移転人口は１５０万人となっていたのですが、全人代では７２万５０００人と報告された。決議を通すために過少報告したわけです。一部で移転が始まっていますが、資金不足で移転地に造るはずの工場はできないし、住宅の供給も追いつかない状況です
−−資金の調達難も深刻なようですが。
政府が９４年４月に発行した１０億元の債券は買い手がつかず、結局自らの外貨で購入した。今は電気料金に上乗せして何とか資金を回している状態です （戴さんによると、事業費は８６年当初見積りで３６０億元。現時点では６０００億元と１６倍に膨れ上がっているという） 本当に治水や電気が必要なら、支流に規模の小さいダムをいくつも造るほうがはるかに効率的。党がプロジェクトにこだわるのは、社会主義の優位性を示す政治的な狙いが大きい。小さいダムをいくら造っても威張れないですから
−−三峡の流域には「三国志」で登場する有名な歴史スポットも数多い。
環境や生物などに、どんな影響が考えられるのか。 ダムができれば、長江カワイルカや中華チョウザメなど、長江にしか生息しない生き物の絶滅は確実と言われている。『張飛廟』など、世界に誇れる文化財や景観も水没する。予定では９８年に本流が締め切られるため今が正念場。アジアの宝である長江を守るため、日本の人たちも協力してほしい
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ 資金難の中国政府は、日本輸出入銀行の融資に期待。輸銀は今月中旬、調査団を現地に派遣し、融資を行うかどうかの検討を進めている。 なお、戴さんは今年９月に来日、三重県長島町で開かれる国際河川会議で講演する。
[1996-05-29-12:53]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Alver Carlson
WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuter) - The U.S. Export-Import Bank, citing serious
environmental concerns, on Thursday turned down a request from American
companies to provide financial backing for China's nearly $30 billion Three
Gorges dam project. The decision by the independent agency that finances
the sale of U.S. goods overseas could be reconsidered if it were satisfied
that the project's environmental problems had been resolved, said Martin
Kamarck, president and chairman of the bank.
"The board has concluded that Ex-Im Bank cannot issue a letter of
interest for this project at this time," Kamarck told reporters. He
cited a number of problems with the dam project, located on the Yangtze
River, which will require a total investment of $28.9 billion over its
17-year construction period, including $3 to $5 billion in foreign capital.
He said there were questions about maintaining adequate water quality in
the project reservoir, protecting ecological resources, preserving endangered
species and the impact of the proposed resettlement of 1.3 million people
to be displaced by the project. "If the China Yangtze Three Gorges
Project Development Corp provides Ex-Im Bank with additional information
with respect to development and mitigation of the environmental issues
involved in this project, the board could reconsider support for the project,"
Kamarck said.
But he emphasised that the decision does not limit U.S. companies from
privately participating in the Three Gorges project. "Today's decision
in no way affects their ability to continue doing business privately with
this project," he said. The turn-down comes at a time when relations
between the United States and China are badly strained over trade issues,
including intellectual property rights, arms proliferation, human rights
and Taiwan. Kamarck, in meeting with reporters, made clear that the Ex-Im
has supported $3.8 billion in U.S. exports to China during the past four
years and currently has more than $10 billion in potential financing for
various transactions.
REUTER
時事通信ニュース速報 ＝環境問題への懸念理由に−米輸銀＝
【ワシントン30日時事】米輸出入銀行理事会は三十日、中国の三峡ダム建設事業に参加ないし参加を希望する米国企業数社が申請していた融資保証について、「現時点では承認できない」との決定を下した。決定は全会一致。融資保証問題ではクリストファー国務長官が前日、反対の姿勢を改めて示していた。 ケイマーク輸銀総裁は融資保証先送りの理由を「環境問題への配慮について情報が不足しているため」と説明。将来中国から環境問題で十分な情報が提供されれば、再考の余地があると述べたが、中国側の反発は必至とみられる。
三峡ダムは水力発電所としては世界最大級。建設期間十七年間、総投資額は最高で二百九十億ドル（約三兆一千億円）前後とみられ、産業機械大手キャタピラーなど多くの米企業が参加を希望し、輸銀の融資保証を求めていた。 半面、同ダム建設は百三十万人の移住を必要とし、環境破壊の懸念もあるため、環境保護団体や米議会を中心に融資保証反対の声が上がっていた。 輸銀は独立した機関だが、米政府とも定期的に協議しており、中国のパキスタンへの核関連技術輸出問題を背景に融資保証の決定を遅らせていた。
[1996-05-31-08:06]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, June 3 (Reuter) - China warned the United States on Monday that
the U.S. Export-Import Bank's decision to refuse to provide financial backing
for the Three Gorges dam project on the Yangtse River could only hurt its
own business interests. "The U.S. administration is not clear about
the situation of the Three Gorges project, so its decision is reckless
and not sensible," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
"What the U.S. has done can only hurt its own business interests,"
she said by telephone in answer to a question on the Ex-Im Bank decision.
The Export-Import Bank, citing serious environmental concerns, on Thursday
turned down a request from U.S. companies to provide financial backing
for the Three Gorges dam project, estimated to cost nearly $30 billion.
The spokeswoman said many international financial institutions were eager
to participate in the financing of the project, including some U.S. financial
organisations. "The competition is very fierce," she added.
Martin Kamarck, president and chairman of the bank, said there were questions
about maintaining water quality, protecting ecological resouces and endangered
species and the impact of the resettlement of 1.3 million people displaced
by the project. But the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the Three Gorges
project, which has been the source of controversy for decades, had been
proved to be scientifically sound. "The project will not only benefit
our country's economic development but also provide development opportunities
for international financial and business circles," she said.
REUTER
時事通信ニュース速報 ＝中国政府が環境白書を発表＝
【北京４日時事】中国政府は四日、「中国における環境保護」と題する白書を発表し、長江（揚子江）中流の三峡ダム建設プロジェクトについて「生態系や環境への好ましくない影響を最小限にとどめる措置を講じていく」として、同プロジェクトが環境問題に十分配慮して進められることを強調した。
世界最大級の三峡ダム建設は深刻な環境破壊の可能性も指摘され、外国の環境保護団体などが懸念を表明している。特に米国では政府や議会にも批判的な意見が多く、米輸出入銀行は五月三十日、環境対策に関する情報不足を理由に、このプロジェクトに参加もしくは参加を希望する米企業数社の融資保証申請を却下したばかり。
白書は「三峡ダムが完成すれば、長江上流の洪水を効果的に制御でき、（洪水による）環境の被害は減少する」と指摘。また、水力発電は石炭を燃やす火力発電より公害がはるかに少ないなどと述べ、同プロジェクトが周囲の環境に重大な悪影響を与えるとの見方を強く否定している。
[1996-06-04-16:08]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING, June 9 (Reuter) - China said on Sunday it would improve the environment
in the Three Gorges area after the U.S. Export-Import Bank rejected requests
for financing for the gigantic project due to environmental concerns. "Some
problems have been solved but the overall environmental situation is still
pregnant with grim possibilities," the official Xinhua news agency
said. Last month, the U.S. Export-Import Bank turned down a request from
American companies to provide financial backing for the nearly $30 billion
Three Gorges project -- the world's biggest dam.
It said there were questions about maintaining adequate water quality in
the project reservoir, protecting ecological resources, preserving endangered
species and the resettlement of 1.3 million people. Bank officials said
the decision by the independent agency that finances the sale of U.S. goods
overseas could be reconsidered it if were satisfied that the project's
environmental problems had been resolved.
The Chinese government planned to intercept the flow of waste water, build
water supply and drainage systems as well as waste water treatment plants
to curb water pollution in the area, Xinhua said. The government would
give top priority to the fortification of shelter belts along the Yangtze
river and the construction of water and soil conservation projects upstream,
Xinhua quoted officials of the ministerial-level State Planning Commission
as saying.
"The area has complicated geological conditions, with steep cliffs
on the banks of the Yangtze River, landslides and mud rock flows,"
Xinhua said. "Soil erosion is also serious because of rampant development
of land." The planning commission has announced a programme for the
economic development of the Three Gorges area, saying tackling ecological
and environmental problems there would have a direct bearing on the resettlement
of local residents, Xinhua said.
China's Foreign Ministry has slammed the decision by the U.S. Eximbank,
saying it was "reckless and not sensible ... and can only hurt U.S.
business interests." The bank's decision does not limit U.S. companies
from privately participating in the project, which will require $3-5 billion
in foreign capital. Construction of the dam requires total investment of
146.8 billion yuan ($17.7 billion) from 1993 to 2003. The U.S. government
opposes offering official assistance to the project because of environmental
concerns.
The project has drawn fire from home and abroad over environmental and
human rights issues. The project will create a 660 km (410 mile) reservoir
in central Hubei province, submerging 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) of
farmland and 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of forest. It aims to halt seasonal
flooding and provide an additional 85 billion kilowatt hours of electricity
per year.
The decision by the U.S. Eximbank comes at a time when relations between
China and the United States are badly strained over trade issues, including
intellectual property rights, and arms proliferation. In addition the U.S.
has criticised China's human rights record, while Washington's perceived
support for Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a rebel province, has raised
the mainland's hackles.
REUTER
【ロンドン11日時事】中国の李鵬首相は十一日付の英紙フィナンシャル・タイムズとのインタビュー記事で、中国に対して「より寛大な」政策を取っている欧州諸国政府に報いるため、同国は米国の企業より欧州企業に好意を寄せていると語った。 同首相はこの中で、「欧州諸国は中国との協調に政治的な方便を使うことがなく、制裁すると脅したり実際に制裁する米国とは違う」と指摘。その上で、今週再開する知的所有権をめぐる米国との交渉が不調に終われば、中国は米製品輸入に「逆制裁」を発動すると言明した。
同首相はまた、世界最大級の水力発電所を建設する三峡ダム事業について、米輸出入銀行が信用供与差し止めを決めたことで米企業の同事業への関与が不可能になったが、同じ技術は欧州やロシアから得られるため中国には何の損失もないとの判断を示した。
[1996-06-11-23:05]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, June 13 (Reuter) - China's colossal Three Gorges dam will be able
to withstand a force 10 earthquake, the official Xinhua news agency quoted
a Chinese seismologist as saying on Thursday. Chai Baoping was quoted as
saying the huge weight of the water stored in the dam might itself cause
an earthquake of up to six magnitude on the Richter scale, although the
intensity affecting the dam would be below six.
The dam was designed to survive an earthquake of up to magnitude 10, so
earthquakes thus caused would be no threat, Chai said. The dam, the world's
biggest water control project, will block the mighty Yangtze river to form
a 660 km (440-mile) lake with a storage capacity of over 30 billion cubic
metres. "The larger the water storage, the bigger the possibility
of earthquakes it might induce," Chai said. There have been no recordings
of even a force nine earthquake. A force ten earthquake is ten times the
strength of a force nine quake.
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Jane Macartney
BEIJING, June 16 (Reuter) - China expects fierce competition among international
bidders to supply the generators for its huge Three Gorges hydroelectric
dam, the China Daily Business Weekly said on Sunday. Two consortia made
up firms from Canada and Europe were the frontrunners, it quoted Qin Zhongyi,
vice president of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Development Corp, as saying.
The two are ahead of the Japanese, as a result of politics apparently playing
a major role, The consortium of GE Canada, Voith and Siemens was extremely
powerful in terms of close alliance, advanced technology and funding power
as well as the good relations between Germany and Canada with China, he
said.
"But to be the final winner, they will have to quote lower prices
and pledge more technology transfer," he suggested. A second consortium
grouping ABB of Switzerland, Kvaerner Industries of Norway and the Anglo-French
GEC Alsthom is no less competitive, Qin said. "ABB is pretty influential
in the power generation circle and seems able to obtain as much government
backing as German companies can," he said.
The prospects of the Japanese consortium -- incorporating Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries, Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba and Hitachi -- looked doubtful
because of what he called "Japan's close association with objectionable
U.S. policies." He did not elaborate. However, he referred to a decision
last month by the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which cited serious environmental
concerns in turning down a request from American companies to provide financial
backing for the nearly $30 billion Three Gorges project -- the world's
biggest water control project. Bank officials said the decision by the
independent agency that finances the sale of U.S. goods overseas could
be reconsidered it if were satisfied that the project's environmental problems
had been resolved.
Tender documents, 30,000 yuan each, for the 14 generators, each of 700
megawatts, would be available between June 24-27, officials have said.
Bids would close on December 18. Sale of the turbines, which will include
14 on its left bank and 12 on the right bank, was expected to trigger a
major war among leading suppliers of hydro-generators around the world,
he said. Although the current maximum capacity of China's domestic generators
was 600 megawatts, China hopes that 12 of the 14 left-bank generators will
be mainly foreign-made and the other two domestically sourced, Qin said.
Bidders for the 14 left-bank generators will have to declare their arrangements
for joint production to ensure an opportunity for domestic producers to
gain expertise to build the 12 right-bank generators, he said. The first
generators would start operation in 2003 and the Three Gorges dam will
generate 85 million megawatt hours a year when it is completed in 2009.
Construction of the dam requires total investment of 146.8 billion yuan
($17.7 billion) from 1993 to 2003. The project will create a 660-km-long
(410-mile-long) reservoir in central Hubei province, submerging 22,000
hectares (54,000 acres) of farmland and 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of
forest. An estimated 1.1 million people are expected to be moved before
the entire project is completed in the year 2009. It aims to halt seasonal
flooding and provide an additional 85 billion kilowatt hours of electricity
per year.
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, June 23 (Reuter) - China said on Sunday it would close more than
30 small paper mills and build more than a dozen waste water treatment
plants to protect the environment in the Three Gorges dam project area
on the Yangtze river. China has said it would improve the environment around
the dam project after the U.S. Export-Import Bank rejected requests for
financing for the world's biggest water control project because of environmental
concerns.
The mills, which produce industrial waste water, along the upper reaches
of the Yangtze river would be closed before the year 2009 when the project
is due to finish, Guo Shuyan, vice-minister of the State Planning Commission,
told the official Xinhua news agency. More than a dozen waste water treatment
plants would be built in the cities of Chongqing, Fuling and Wanxian in
Sichuan province as part of a programme to minimise damage that might result
from dam construction, he said.
"Our target is that no industrial waste water be discharged before
being cleaned and most of domestic sewage will be gathered for concentrated
treatment, by the time the Three Gorges project is completed,"
Guo said. Construction of the Three Gorges project, which began at the
end of 1994, is expected to submerge 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) of
farmland and 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of forest. To reduce soil erosion,
China would grow 2.86 million hectares (7.07 million acres) of forest with
a budget of 450 million yuan ($54 million) on the middle and upper reaches
of the Yangtze river within five years, Guo said. A watchdog panel composed
of 16 government departments had been set up to supervise and push the
environmental protection programme, he said.
REUTER
共同通信経済ニュース速報
【ワシントン４日ＡＰ・ＤＪ＝共同】米輸出入銀行が中国・三峡ダム建設に参加する米企業への信用供与を停止すると発表してから約１カ月が経ったが、輸銀は水面下で別の中国のダム建設事業への金融支援措置を検討している。５日付のエイシャン・ウォールストリート・ジャーナル紙が伝えた。
輸銀が検討している事業は、黄河での水力発電ダム建設。総工費２００億ドルを超える世界最大級の三峡ダムに比べれば、規模はかなり小さい。しかしいずれの事業でも、大がかりな土地造成や住民の立ち退きを伴うことに変わりはない。 関係者は、米政府が特定のダム建設だけを支援することに戸惑いを隠せない様子だ。輸銀は、三峡ダムが環境基準を満たしていないためだ、としか説明してない。
しかし輸銀の決定にどのような根拠があるにせよ、米輸出業者は三峡ダム支援で見え隠れしたクリントン政権の思惑が薄れたことを歓迎している。さらに輸銀のカマーク総裁が数日前に北京を訪れた際に、時間を割いて三峡ダムの事業協力者を訪問したことにも気をよくしている。同銀は「三峡ダム支援の扉を閉ざしたわけではない」との見解を発表した。 （了）
[1996-07-05-12:56]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, July 15 (Reuter) - Work on China's Three Gorges project on the
Yangtze River was on schedule, with most targets reached in the first half
of this year, the overseas edition of the People's Daily said on Monday.
The Three Gorges is the world's biggest water control project. In the first
six months, more than 7.24 million cubic metres of earth and rocks were
excavated, 794,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete poured and 24,600
square metres of walls built to prevent leakage, accounting for 38 percent,
47 percent and 39 percent of this year's targets, respectively, it said.
The Datuo road on the right bank had been completed and the Xiling-Yangtze
bridge connecting the north and south banks was expected to open to traffic
soon. A major highway leading to the dam site was due to open on October
1. Contractors were preparing for the second phase of the project, from
1997 to 2000, and the damming of the Yangtze in November 1997, the paper
said without giving further details.
The first generators are due to start operating in 2003. The dam will generate
85 million megawatt-hours a year when completed in 2009. The U.S. Export-Import
Bank has rejected a request from U.S. companies to provide financial backing
for the $30 billion project, citing environmental concerns.
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, July 16 (Reuter) - China's President Jiang Zemin on Tuesday called
on rich countries to do more to protect the environment and attacked some
for using "environmental diplomacy" to interfere in the affairs
of others. "We firmly oppose some advanced countries using so-called
environmental diplomacy as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs
of other countries," state radio quoted Jiang as telling a national
meeting on protecting the environment.
He mentioned no country by name, but Beijing has criticised the U.S. Eximbank
for refusing a request from American companies to provide financial backing
for the nearly $30 billion Three Gorges dam project, citing environmental
concerns.
The Three Gorges is the world's biggest water control project and needs
large injections of foreign capital. Environmental problems touched on
international politics, economics, trade and culture, China's Jiang said.
"We are willing to contribute positively toward helping protect the
world environment but we cannot take on a responsibility not fitting the
level of development of our country," he said. "Of course, developed
countries should in this field take more responsibility," he said.
China says it has serious pollution of its soil, air and water but has
limited resources to deal with the problems.
毎日新聞ニュース速報
【北京１８日飯田和郎】１７日の中国各紙によると、江沢民国家主席は１６日、全国環境保護会議座談会で「一部の先進国が“環境保護外交”と称し、環境問題で他国の内政に干渉することに強く反対する」と発言。名指しこそ避けたが、米輸出入銀行が三峡ダム建設に進出を予定する米企業への融資見送りを決定したことに反発した。経済発展に伴う中国の環境破壊を懸念する声は強く、環境問題について米国など西側諸国と中国との摩擦が今後、強まる可能性が強まってきた。
揚子江（長江）中流をせきとめる三峡ダム建設は１９９０年、中国政府の決定により国家事業になった。２００９年完成を目標に現在、世界最大規模のダム工事が進んでおり、政府は供用開始後は水力発電、洪水対策などの面で威力を発揮すると説明している。 しかし、国外の環境保護団体などからは環境破壊を指摘する意見は多い。
米輸銀は５月、１）希少動植物など生態系の保護２）水質の維持３）強制移住させられる１００万人以上の住民への影響−−などで融資実行の条件を満たしていないとして、ダム建設に参加する米企業から出ていた公的融資要請をはねつけた。 輸銀側は融資見送りに際し「米議会の環境基準を満たす証拠を中国が示せば、融資を再検討する」としているが、江主席は座談会の中で「わが国の発展水準に合わない過大な義務を負うのは承知できない」と発言、暗に米輸銀が示した“条件”を非難している。
江主席は１３日行った新党さきがけ訪中団との会見でも「先進国は途上国の環境保護に多くの役割を果たすべきだ」と述べ、保護技術に優れた日本などの援助に期待感を表明したが、一方で経済建設を急がなくてはならないという事情があり、実際、中国では各地の河川や湖水の汚濁、大気汚染が進んでいる。 日本円で総額３兆円といわれる三峡ダム建設には外資の導入が欠かせない。政府は６月に発表した環境白書でダム建設は環境保護策に沿ったものと強調しているが、「２１世紀への最大の国家事業」とされる三峡ダム建設をはじめ経済開発計画が環境問題とリンクさせられ、対中外交のカードに使われることに中国は強い警戒感を抱いている。
[1996-07-18-10:45]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING, Aug 16 (Reuter) - The huge Three Gorges project may help China
tame the mighty Yangtze river and ease its annual bout with widespread
flooding, a senior official said on Friday. The world's biggest water control
project -- expected to cost $30 billion by its completion in 2009 -- would
ease seasonal flooding by creating a massive reservoir in central Hubei
province to store waters from rains. "It will greatly reduce flooding,"
said Wei Tingcheng, vice-minister of the Three Gorges Project Construction
Committee.
The reservoir in Yichang will have a storage capacity of 39.3 billion cubic
metres (1.4 trillion cubic ft). "We will be able to cope with the
catastrophic floods that we face once every 100 years," Wei said in
an interview. The 6,000-km (3,500-mile) Yangtze river -- China's longest
-- and its tributaries have triggered floods throughout much of China's
history. This year, floods and typhoons across many parts of the country
have killed more than 2,700 people. Floods along the Yangtze as well as
other regions inflicted damage estimated at 52.4 billion yuan ($6.3 billion)
since late July.
Work on the project, which will also help ease China's crippling shortage
of electric power, was on schedule, Wei said. It calls for the installation
of 26 generators, each of 700 megawatts, to produce 85 million megawatt
hours a year when completed in 2009. But the benefits will carry a hefty
price tag. The project will submerge 632 square km (244 square miles) of
land in Hubei and the southwestern province of Sichuan, forcing the relocation
of 840,000 residents of up to 200 villages and towns, according to 1991-92
estimates. Many local residents have objected to the forced relocations
and complained of inadequate compensation. Environmentalists have described
the project as a potential ecological disaster, leading to the destruction
of a scenic mountain region and the extinction of endangered species.
Wei brushed aside criticisms, saying the government will allocate 40 billion
yuan ($4.8 billion) for relocation. "Their new lives will not be worse
than now," he said of those who face relocation. "It will only
be better." New cities and towns were under construction, and the
government hoped to relocate half of the 840,000 people by 2003, when the
first generators start operation, Wei said. The government was committed
to improving the environment in the Three Gorges area, he said.
In May, the U.S. Export-Import Bank rejected a request from American companies
to provide financial backing for the project due to environmental concerns.
"This will not affect us at all," Wei said. "This will only
affect U.S. businesses."
Construction of the dam was expected to cost a total of 146.8 billion yuan
($17.7 billion) through the year 2005. About 80 percent of that total would
be raised at home through government budget allocations, loans from the
State Development Bank and by boosting electricity rates, Wei said. China
expects to raise the rest by issuing bonds, gaining export credits or borrowing
from abroad though there has been no decision on how much of each type
of financing to use. "Funds are sufficient now. We do not lack money,"
Wei said.
($1 - 8.3 yuan)
共同通信ニュース速報
経済成長に伴い電力需要が急増しているアジア各国で、日本の重電メーカーの電源開発プロジェクト受注への取り組みが本格化している。国内では新潟県・巻町で原発建設が住民投票で反対されるなど新規の発電所建設が難航していることもあり、大手メーカーはアジアの発電所計画に積極的に参加する意向だ。
中国では総事業費三兆円といわれる巨大プロジェクト、三峡ダム建設に三菱重工業、日立製作所、東芝、三菱電機が日本企業連合を組み国際入札に参加する意向だ。入札の対象は二十六基、出力七十万キロワットの水力発電所の一部。三菱重工は「急成長するアジアには大きな事業拡大の余地がある」（増田信行社長）としている。
また、三菱重工、三菱電機など三社はこのほど、円借款の対象事業である上海市の宝山複合火力（出力三十五万キロワット）、山西省と河北省の河津、三河両火力（出力各三十万キロワット二基）の三発電所建設を約五百三十億円で落札した。
一方東芝は、インドネシアのタンジュンジャッティ石炭火力（七十万キロワット二基）、同パイトン石炭火力（四十万キロワット）などの発電所事業を手掛けている。
野村総合研究所によると中国、インドネシア、マレーシア、タイ、韓国、フィリピン、台湾の主な東アジア諸国・地域の二○一○年の最終電力需要は約三兆九千億キロワット時と、一九九○年の四・九倍に拡大。このため電源開発投資は二○一○年までに総額一兆ドルを超えると推定する。同研究所社会産業研究部の石黒正康上級専門職は「電力需要はこのところ年平均八・一％伸びており、この傾向は今後十年は変わらない」と電力不足が続くと予測している。
[1996-08-26-16:06]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, Sept 16 (Reuter) - China said on Monday its huge Three Gorges
project, which will dam the mighty Yangtze river, was within budget and
ahead of schedule. Spending on the Three Gorges project reached 17 billion
yuan ($2.0 billion) as of August and the Yangtze river would be dammed
by the end of next year, the official Xinhua news agency said. The agency
did not give a figure for the expected cost of the project, scheduled to
be completed in 2009, but estimates have ranged from $24 billion to $30
billion.
The agency quoted Lu Youmei, president of the Three Gorges Project Development
Corp, which is in charge of construction, as saying there was sufficient
funding, although he gave no new details of how money would be raised.
Construction quality had met design demands, Lu was quoted as saying. Some
20,000 workers had excavated 120 million cubic metres (4.23 trillion cubic
ft) of earth and stone and had poured over 2.6 million cubic metres (9.18
billion cubic ft) of concrete, Xinhua said.
It said that 83 percent of the digging had been completed for a water diversion
channel built to change the course of the Yangtze. The 350-metre wide channel
would be navigable by next April. The project will create a huge reservoir
and reduce flooding along the 6,000 km (3,500 mile) Yangtze, China's longest
river.
The project will submerge 632 square km (244 square miles) of land in central
Hubei province and the southwestern province of Sichuan, forcing the relocation
of nearly one million residents of up to 200 towns and villages. Environmentalists
have criticised the project, describing it as a potential environmental
disaster. Local residents have objected to the forced relocation and have
complained of inadequate compensation. the resettlement. An independent
panel of experts has also been involved.
The 20-year bank loan will carry a variable interest rate linked to the
organisation's cost of funds. The rate currently stands at 7.07 percent.
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, Oct 1 (Reuter) - China plans to close down all paper mills on
the upper reaches of the Yangtze river as part of a wide-ranging clean-up
along the river, the Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday. The closures would
come as part of a programme to minimise ecological effects of the gargantuan
Three Gorges dam project -- the world's largest hydropower facility due
for completion in 2009, Xinhua said.
As a first step, the government would close down all small paper mills
in the upper reaches of the river before the project's completion, Xinhua
said. The government had set aside about 90 million yuan ($10.8 million)
to help set up an ecology and environment monitoring network to keep an
eye on changes that might be brought about by the dam project, Xinhua said.
Authorities would try to curtail industrial pollution in the Yangtze, and
would work to halt soil erosion along the middle and upper reaches of the
river, Xinhua said.
The government is pushing ahead with a technical renovation campaign to
update processing techonologies and recycling standards in big factories
discharging waste along the river, the agency said. Major Yangtze polluter
Chongqing city in Sichuan province was building a waste-water treatment
plant capable of handling 48,000 tonnes of water a day, it said. The central
government had allocated 450 million yuan ($54 million) to plant 2.86 million
hectares (7.1 million acres) of land with trees along the central and upper
reaches of the river, it said.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank had rejected a request from U.S. companies
to provide financial backing for the $30 billion Three Gorges project,
citing environmental concerns. Critics of the project, which would submerge
632 square km (244 square miles) of land, have said it could have devastating
effects on the environment. ($1 - 8.3 yuan)
REUTER
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, Oct 11 (Reuter) - Switzerland hopes its industry will take part
in China's Three Gorges project but adequate resettlement plans for people
displaced by the huge dam are vital, Swiss President Jean-Pascal Delamuraz
said on Friday. Swiss state export guarantees on the flood control project,
expected to cost between $24 billion and $30 billion, could depend on resettlement
efforts, he told repoters.
"There has been no decision on export guarantees," he said. "The
government is extremely interested in seeing Swiss industry participate,"
he said, but he cautioned that adequate resettlement measures would be
a key factor. Delamuraz, who is visiting China with a delegation of Swiss
businessmen, said that this was taken up in discussions with Chinese Premier
Li Peng. Swiss embassy officials said the Chinese side had made assurances
that much of the money spent on the project would go to relocating displaced
residents.
The project, which will not be completed until 2009, is aimed at reducing
flooding along the 6,000 km (3,500 mile) Yangtze river. It will create
a huge reservoir and submerge 632 square km (244 square miles) of land
in Hubei and Sichuan provinces, forcing the relocation of nearly one million
people. It will also produce electric power for the region.
Swiss industrial giant ABB AG is a major supplier of power equipment. The
two sides also signed a preliminary accord setting up a 25 million Swiss
franc fund to promote investment in China by small and medium sized Swiss
companies.
REUTER
共同通信ニュース速報
日本輸出入銀行は八日、中国政府が長江（揚子江）で進めている巨大ダムプロジェクト「三峡ダム」への融資を十二月初旬にも認める意向を示唆した。国会議員や市民団体との協議の席上、同行の丸川和久営業第一部長が明らかにした。丸川部長は「十二月初めに政府と協議し、政府系金融機関として（融資を認めるかどうかの）態度を決定する。しかし（融資反対の市民団体にとって）不満のある決定になることもあり得る」と述べた。
協議には秋葉忠利衆院議員（社民）、米国の環境保護団体「国際河川ネットワーク」のオーエン・ラマーズ代表らが出席、「三峡ダムは堆砂（たいさ）などで環境に重大な悪影響を及ぼし、水没地域の百万人以上の住民は十分な補償がないまま強制移住させられ、人権侵害も深刻。米国輸出入銀行と世界銀行、アジア開発銀行はすでに融資を認めない決定をしている」と、融資を認めないよう求めた。
輸銀側は「近く中国に調査団を派遣、その調査結果で最終判断するが、十二月十八日に中国政府がダムの発電用タービンを国際入札するため、十二月初旬が態度決定のタイムリミットになる」としている。日本からは重電メーカー七社が入札に参加予定という。
三峡ダムは、ダム湖（ダム上流に水のたまる区域）の長さが東京から姫路までと同じ約六百キロ。発電量は世界最大の千八百二十万キロワット。輸銀によると、総事業費は約三兆円で、約一六％を海外調達したい意向という。
[1996-11-08-18:54]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
BEIJING, Nov 10 (Reuter) - China will open bidding in February for the
rights to build its huge Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze river and will
sign contracts for the project in July, the Business Weekly said on Sunday.
The company in charge of the project -- China Yangtze Three Gorges Project
Development Corp -- will open the bidding for rights to build the dam in
February and sign commercial contracts with winning bam, which calls for
11.5 million cubic metres of cement and 140,000 tonnes of steel and other
metal products, would be open to a select group of Chinese firms, He said.
The development company would also start taking bids next year for a series
of contracts for equipment such as cranes and conveyors, said the newspaper,
which is published by the official China Daily. The company would choose
the winners of international tenders to supply 14 700-megawatt generators
by the middle of next year, He said. Chinese officials have been quoted
as saying that groups of firms from Canada and Europe were frontrunners
for the lucrative contracts.
The giant dam project aims to reduce flooding along the mighty Yangtze
river and generate 85 million megawatt-hours of electricity a year when
it is completed in 2009. Estimates of the project's cost have ranged from
$24 billion to $30 billion. China aims to block the Yangtze in November
of next year, creating a vast reservoir in the central province of Hubei
and the southwestern province of
共同通信経済ニュース速報
中国の国家プロジェクトとなっている三峡ダムの発電設備の国際入札を１２月１８日に控え、日本政府が信用供与すべきかどうかを探るため、ダム建設に伴う環境や人権の問題についての実態調査に動き出した。 通産省は三峡ダムの研究会を設けて調査を進めるとともに、貿易保険の担当課長が１２月初めに２度目の現地訪問を実施、日本輸出入銀行は１１月下旬に環境室長らの調査団を派遣するなど異例の対応となっている。
三峡ダムは治水、発電などを目的に、湖北省宣昌県の長江（揚子江）に建設される。李鵬首相が国務院の建設委員会のトップに就き、事業を推進している。 最大出力は１８２０万キロワットと世界最大。１９９４年から土木工事が始まり、総工費２５００億元（３兆５０００億円）をかけ、２００９年の完成を見込む。 発電設備は７０万キロワットの発電機２６台から構成される。このうち１４台が国際入札の対象で、５００億−７００億円の商談とみられている。
日本連合（日立製作所、東芝、三菱重工業、三菱電機と伊藤忠商事など４商社）をはじめドイツのシーメンス、フランス、スイス、カナダ、ロシアなどの企業が応札する見通しだ。
ただ、ダムの建設で重慶まで４００キロメートルもの流域で水位が上昇するため、１００万人を超える住民が移転を迫られるといった人権のほか、自然環境への影響も心配されている。 こうした住民の移転や環境などの問題点を検証するのが調査の目的だが、応札する日本連合からは「記念碑的事業で協力しなければ、今後の対中ビジネスに悪影響が出る」（伊藤忠商事）との声が強く出ており、対中信用供与などをめぐる最終的な政府の外交判断が注目されている。 （了）
[1996-11-11-13:27]
毎日新聞ニュース速報
【ワシントン１９日原敏郎】米輸出入銀行は１９日、中国の２発電所の建設に対し、総額７億９２００万ドルのローン供与を決めたと発表した。クリントン米大統領はフィリピンでのアジア太平洋経済協力会議（ＡＰＥＣ）首脳会議出席を利用して開かれる米中首脳会談で、このローン決定を江沢民国家主席に表明する。
この発電所は陝西省の石炭火力発電所と、金山水力発電所第３号機。環境問題を理由にローン供与を開始していない三峡ダム建設への支援について同銀行は「今回のローン決定とは関連しない」と話している。
[1996-11-20-10:11]
時事通信ニュース速報 ＝日本企業連合の発電機受注に向け支援＝
【北京26日時事】日本輸出入銀行は世界最大級のダムとなる中国・長江（揚子江）の三峡ダム建設事業に融資するかどうかを決めるための調査団を十七日から二十六日まで中国に派遣、ダム建設が環境に与える影響などを調査した。また、通産省も貿易保険を適用するかどうかを調べるため今月三十日から九日間、調査団を派遣する。
三峡ダム建設事業では、水力発電設備の国際入札が十二月十八日に行われる予定で、日立製作所など重電メーカー四社、伊藤忠商事など商社四社が日本企業連合を結成して入札に参加、欧米の企業連合などと受注を競う。中国側の審査では価格や技術面のほか、融資面も重視されるため、輸銀などが融資を決めれば、日本企業連合の発電機受注に有利になるとみられる。
三峡ダムは生態系に与える影響が大きいことや、住民の移住が百万人を超えることから、中国国内で建設に賛否両論があったほか、世界銀行や米国の輸出入銀行は融資に消極的な姿勢を示している。
[1996-11-26-19:14]
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Scott Hillis
XUJIACHONG, China, Dec 9 (Reuter) - Xujiachong village in central China's
Hubei province is nestled in a lush, narrow valley dotted with whitewashed
concrete houses, small cabbage patches and freshwater fish ponds. Ruddy-cheeked
children peer out of ill-lit doorways while farmers steer belching tractors
along dirt roads lined with orange trees, their verdant branches heavy
with the bright, tart fruit. Xujiachong is much like any other village
in China, except that it is scheduled to be wiped off the map by the end
of next year.
The village of 2,480 people is just one of hundreds of towns and hamlets
that will be flooded by the silt-laden waters of the Yangtzent Three Gorges
dam project. "The total number of people to be relocated under the
Three Gorges project, those in submerged areas, is now 840,000," said
Wang Jiazhu, deputy general manager of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project
Development Co that is building the mammoth dam. "We are estimating
there could be a million or 1.2 million at most, taking into account the
population increase during the 17 years of construction," Wang said.
In Yichang county, site of the future dam, more than 12,300 people have
been resettled from the sprawling construction site that flanks the broad,
snaking river, said Wang Jiangyi, deputy director of the Yichang Resettlement
Bureau. Evacuation of the giant reservoir area -- to cover more than 600
square km (230 square miles) -- began in 1994 and will involve moving about
100,000 people from Yichang county alone, Wang Jiangyi said.
LEAVING ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS The fates of hundreds of thousands of households
in Hubei and neighbouring Sichuan province were sealed in 1992 when Beijing
ended seveopes the project, to be completed in the year 2009, will help
to power China's economic charge in the 21st century and bring an end to
disastrous flooding that has claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people
in this century alone. Officials say they have run into opposition from
many local residents unwilling to abandon their ancestral homes and traditional
lifestyles. "There are residents who aren't willing to move,"
said Wang Kaidong, village chief of Xujiachong, which is just two km (1.2
miles) from the dam site. "It is understandable that they don't want
to leave the homes their families have occupied for generations,"
she said.
IDEOLOGICAL WEAPONS AND CASH CARROTS Communist Party officials have tried
to combat anti-relocation sentiment by preaching traditional communist
values of self-sacrifice while holding out cash and material incentives.
"The magic weapon of our party is ideological work," said Wang
Kaidong. "We talk face to face with residents about the resettlement
policies and compensation standards." Of tl manager of the Three Gorges
Development Co. Government work teams have fanned out through the countryside
offering compensation to residents based on the size and quality of their
houses and farms that will be committed to the watery mass grave.
Total compensation for each family ranges from 30,000 to 80,000 yuan and
those being resettled to rural areas are to receive parcels of land to
build new houses on, Wang Jiangyi of the resettlement bureau said. Blocks
of apartment buildings have sprung up to house those moving into urban
areas to be employed in factories or tertiary industries, Wang Jiangyi
said. Relocated families will also enjoy preferential charges for electricity,
water and road use and will be allowed to make two moving trips free of
charge, Wang Jiangyi said.
If ethical campaigns and cash rewards failed to convince the stubborn to
pack up, authorities could still resort to the force of law, Wang said.
"In the resettlement process, if there is any case of... disrupting
the public order that prevents the procespublic security regulations,"
he said.
($1 - 8.3 yu
共同通信ニュース速報
中国政府が長江（揚子江）で進める巨大ダム計画「三峡ダム」への融資問題について、超党派議員の「公共事業チェック機構を実現する議員の会」（小杉隆会長）と通産省、日本輸出入銀行との協議が十二日、衆院議員会館で行われた。通産省側は「早ければ、今週中にも融資を認めるかどうかの結論を出す」と融資に前向きの姿勢を示した。
協議では、通産省が最近実施した現地調査について報告。最大関心事である百万人以上の強制移住住民の人権や補償問題について「移転補償は現在、居住中の家と同等の家に住めるよう手厚い水準となっている」と説明した。
これに対し、議員側は「中国政府が三峡ダムのために特別立法した法律では、移住対象者は移住を拒絶できないと規定され、不服申し立ても認めらない。補償説明会も開いていない」と人権侵害につながる懸念を表明した。通産省側は「あくまで政府当局の説明だが、上海の十分の一の所得水準の人にも上海並みの補償をすると聞いた」と、補償基準を前向きに評価した。
米国輸出入銀行と世界銀行、アジア開発銀行は既に、ダムの堆砂（たいさ）で環境に重大な悪影響を及ぼし、水没地域の住民は十分な補償がないまま強制移住させられる、として融資を認めない決定をしている。
融資問題は今月十八日、中国政府がダムの発電用タービンを国際入札するため、方針決定のタイムリミットが迫っている。日本からは重電メーカーと商社が八社連合（幹事社、日立製作所）を組み、入札に参加予定。二十六基の発電機のうち就出する側が資金を調達して中国側に貸し付ける「バイヤーズクレジット」といわれる方式で、入札価格は七百億―八百億円の範囲とみられる。いまのところ資金の六割を輸銀が融資、四割を市中銀行が融資する方式が有力視されている。
[1996-12-12-19:57]
時事通信ニュース速報 ＝環境、人権問題で中国の対応を評価＝
政府は十六日、世界最大規模の中国・三峡ダム建設事業に日本輸出入銀行の融資などを行う方針を固めた。三峡ダム建設に対し、環境破壊や、百万人を超える水没地域の住民移転に伴う人権問題などが指摘されているが、中国側の一連の対応を評価、日本の独自調査と合わせて総合判断した。尖閣諸島問題など日中関係の改善にも配慮し、公的融資として異例の政治判断も加わったようだ。
具体的には、ダムに使う発電機（十四基、約七百億円）の国際入札に参加する八社の日本企業グループに輸銀の融資と、融資に政府信用を供与する通産省の貿易保険を適用する。入札期限は今月十八日で、約八カ月後に落札される。 同入札には、独、仏、加、ロなどの企業グループも参加を表明しており、いずれの参加国政府も既に融資することを決めている。しかし、米国は五月に環境問題などに配慮して、米輸銀の融資を見送った。
日本が融資を決めたのは、 1長江（揚子江）の下流域は過去に洪水を繰り返し、毎年多数の死者を出しているため、ダム建設は治水上必要
2住民移転に対し、中国は異例の手厚い補償を実施している 3ダム建設で水力発電の比率が高まり、火力発電に伴う酸性雨や二酸化炭素排出の抑制が期待できる−ことなどの判断がある。
[1996-12-16-20:16]
共同通信ニュース速報
政府は十七日、中国が長江（揚子江）中流に建設中の三峡ダムプロジェクトで、日本の企業連合が入札を予定している発電設備納入（総額七百億―五百億円）に対し、日本輸出入銀行の融資と通産省の貿易保険適用で支援する方針を固めた。
三峡ダムへの政府による信用供与には、環境破壊や移転住民の人権侵害を主張する市民団体や国会議員グループが反対してきたが、調査の結果、問題はないと判断した。同ダムは中国最大級の国家事業で、日中関係への政治的配慮も働いたとみられる。
日本の企業連合は日立製作所など重電四社と伊藤忠商事など大手商社四社の計八社で構成し、中国が十八日に行う発電機十四基、タービン十四基の国際競争入札に参加する。中国側は公的な信用供与を入札の際に示すことを要求し、ドイツなど海外の応札企業には政府の支援が決まっていた。日本企業は公的支援がなければ不利になることが確実だったが、通産省の現地調査などで、移転補償は中国としては高い水準にあることなどが分かった。
同ダムの発電容量は一千八百二十万キロワットで、水力発電では世界最大。二○○三年に一部運転を開始する。
[1996-12-17-11:09]
.
Copyright, 1996 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd.
FEATURE - China dam hopeful, defiant on foreign backing By Scott Hillis
YICHANG,
China, Dec 11 (Reuter) - To dam or not to dam the mighty Yangtze river
has been a question that has teased China for much of this century. Electrical
engineer-turned-premier Li Peng finally took the decision to dam, and four
y will stand in their way. Officials of the China Three Gorges Project
Development Corp say the dam in the central province of Hubei faces a funding
shortfall of one-sixth of its multi-billion dollar price tag.
But they vow to complete it even if foreign funding now being sought fails
to materialise. The price tag of the world's biggest water control project,
harnessing the power of Asia's longest river, is expected to be at least
240 billion yuan ($29 billion), officials told reporters at a recent visit.
That however could rise as high as 300 billion yuan ($36 billion), depending
on such variables as inflation and interest rates, they said.
Costs were estimated to be 90 billion yuan at 1993 levels while interest
and inflation would add at least 150 billion yuan by the time the dam was
completed in 2009 after 17 years of construction, said Three Gorges Corp
vice-president Yuan Guolin. "Our capital shortfall, as a proportion
of the total funding needed, is about 20 percent," Yuan said. The
central government will directly 20 percent, said He Gong, deputy general
manager for the Three Gorges Corp.
ABOUT 30 BILLION IN LOANS Of this, the State Development Bank would provide
about 30 billion yuan in loans while revenue allocated from the Gezhouba
dam downstream on the Yangtze would bring in an additional 15-18 billion
yuan, He said. The project would start generating money itself when some
of the dam's 26 turbines whir into life in 2003, financing about another
10 percent of the cost. The dam will eventually fire out 84.7 million megawatt-hours
of electricity a year, transmitting power to nearly every major city in
China.
Asked how the company would make up a shortfall of at least 40 billion
yuan, officials coupled rosy predictions about overseas bond issues and
export credits with steely defiance against foreign jitters over the project.
"The overall trend is that we need to develop towards international
channels," Yuan said. He hailed a deal with Canada for $30 million
in export credits for the project's computer network. The company was ebonds
and stocks remains to be seen. When the time comes, we will make an announcement,"
Wang said.
EXIMBANK SHORT-SIGHTED, SAYS YUAN Vice-president Yuan dismissed the U.S.
Export-Import Bank's refusal to finance the dam because of environmental
worries as short-sighted folly, saying the decision would only hurt U.S.
firms and workers. "We would welcome a change in attitude by the United
States toward the Three Gorges," Yuan said. "It would not only
be good for the project, it would bring numerous benefits to American companies."
The dam, which will create a 600-square km (230-square mile) reservoir,
has drawn heavy fire from environmental and human rights groups abroad,
who fear damage to the river ecology and fret over the resettlement of
1.2 million local residents. Chief engineer Gan Weiyi vowed China would
find the funding at home if cash failed to materialise from abroad. "If
you don't want to lend to me, I can overcome that," Gan said. Faced
with the job of moving 102.6 million cubic metres (3.6 trillion cubic fe
firms. "Our purchases of foreign equipment now total more than $100
million," vice-president Yuan said.
BIG PRIZE The big prize will be landed in the middle of 1997. It is then
that China is to sign a 10 billion yuan contract with foreign suppliers
for the 14 700-megawatt generators that will be part of the heart of the
riparian behemoth. Consortia involving Germany's Siemens, GE Canada, and
Hitachi and Toshiba of Japan -- among others -- are expected to participate
in the bidding, scheduled to open on December 18. The numbers are on a
giant scale.
More than 27 million cubic metres (953 million cubic feet) of concrete
will be poured into the dam, shiplocks and navigation channels. About 354,000
tonnes of rebar and nearly 281,000 tonnes of metal will be used. To carry
out the herculean task, China has mobilised tens of thousands of workers
to build the project. A steady stream of dumptrucks with tires twice as
tall as a man rumble to and from the sprawling construction site. Mountains
of sand, gravel and steel bt we have the capability to finish the construction,"
He said.
($1 - 8.3
時事通信ニュース速報 ＝中国から環境問題で回答ない−米輸銀＝
【ワシントン16日時事】米輸出入銀行スポークスマンは十六日、日本政府が日本輸出入銀行などを通じて中国の三峡ダム建設事業への融資を行う方針を固めたことについて、「公式にコメントする立場にない」と述べた。米輸銀は今年、同事業への参加ないし参加を希望する米国企業数社が申請していた融資保証について、「中国の環境問題への配慮について情報が不足している」との理由で融資保証を見送った。
ケイマーク輸銀総裁は融資保証見送りを発表した際に、中国から環境問題で十分な情報が提供されれば、再考の余地があると述べていたが、同スポークスマンは「現時点で中国から環境問題で回答はない」としている。
三峡ダムは水力発電所としては世界最大級。総投資額は最高二百九十億ドル（約三兆三千億円）前後とみられ、多くの米企業が参加を希望しているが、ダム建設には住民の移住を必要とするほか、環境破壊への懸念もあり、環境保護団体や米議会を中心に融資保証反対の声が上がっていた。
[1996-12-17-08:04]
共同通信ニュース速報
日本政府は中国の国家プロジェクトである三峡ダム建設への支援の方針を固めた。だが、環境破壊や百万人以上の住民移転を問題視する国際世論を前に、関係省庁には責任回避の姿勢がありありで、閣僚や政府高官の発表もなく、だれが決定したのか顔の見えない外交判断となった。
三峡ダムは、治水、発電などを目的に、湖北省宣昌県の長江（揚子江）に建設される世界最大級のダム。李鵬首相自らが事業を推進している。
発電設備の国際入札には日本連合（日立製作所、伊藤忠商事など八社）も応札する意向で、日本政府は日中関係の改善ムードや対中ビジネスに配慮し早くから支援に傾いていたようだ。
日本輸出入銀行や通産省は、直前に担当者が実態調査のため訪中するなど、ゴーサインを出すためのアリバイづくりともとれる異例の対応をしており、発電設備の国際入札が締め切られる十八日をにらんだ、ぎりぎりの意思決定の「演出」とも思えてくる。 佐藤信二通産相は「日本企業が応札するなら貿易保険の適用対象」と言い切るものの「大蔵省の結論が前提」と逃げを打ち、大蔵省も「あくまで輸銀が決める話」（同省幹部）と距離を置く。外務省の林貞行次官は「関係省庁に環境問題などへの配慮を要望している」と人ごとのようだ。
政府内では「水力発電にはクリーンなプラス面もある」（大蔵省幹部）、「中国も破格の移転補償を出すなど国際世論に配慮し努力はしている」（通産省幹部）とダム建設には一定の理解がある。 米国が信用供与を見送ったことについても「先の大統領選を控えての配慮。そもそも米国には応札する発電機メーカーがない」（伊藤忠商事幹部）と冷静な見方がある。
ただ「融資を受ける中国側が資金計画も含めてきちんと示さないのに、融資する側の日本がわざわざ出向いて調査するのも妙な話」後に禍根を残す結果となりそうだ。
[1996-12-17-18:51]
時事通信ニュース速報 ＝「環境対策」などで−環境庁＝
政府が日本輸出入銀行の融資などを行う方針を固めた世界最大の中国の三峡ダム開発プロジェクトに対し、環境庁が懸念を表明していたことが十七日、分かった。 環境庁によると、通産省から非公式に、融資の是非を決める際の参考にしたいと見解を求められた。環境庁は「ダム建設による生態系への影響などに関するデータが足りず、必要な分析もされていない上、具体的な対策がイメージできない」などと問題点を指摘した上で、「これだけの材料では判断できない」と回答したという。
同庁環境協力室は「水を止めれば当然影響は出るが、対策が具体的に示されておらず不十分」としている。
三峡ダム建設は一九九三年に第一期工事が始まっており、二○○九年の完成予定。完成すれば世界一のダムとなるが、環境破壊や水没地域に住む百万人以上の住民移転に伴う問題などが指摘されている。 通産省は「中国側が作った環境アセスメント要約版について、プロの目からの見解を伺ったことはあるが、懸念を表明されたことはない」としている。
[1996-12-17-17:09]
朝日新聞ニュース速報
「人権、環境問題を十分調査しての結論とは思えない」 中国・長江中流の三峡ダム建設を、政府が日本輸出入銀行の融資という形で後押しすることに、国際的環境団体「地球の友」の活動家はこう反発した。 融資は六百億円ともいわれる水力発電機を中国側が買う資金となる。日立製作所など八社による日本企業連合が、国際入札に加わる条件でもある。だが、融資の決定が入札締め切り日になったこと自体、政府、輸銀内部にも不安があったことの表れだとはいえまいか。
ダムは世界最大級。二００九年完成を目指す。事業費は金利を含めて三兆円。上流六百キロを貯水湖にし、百十三万人を移住させる。影響は計り知れない。 中国側はもう一つの目的、治水を強調する。発電については「電力不足を補うには、大気汚染を招く石炭火力より水力の方が地球環境にいい」と説く。 それはしかし、ダムが機能してこその主張である。 上流から運ばれる大量の土砂で埋まれば、治水上危険だし、発電能力も落ちる。毛沢東の元秘書長李鋭氏の指摘だ。
インド・ナルマダ川のダム計画では一九九０年、国際世論に押されて援助を中止した苦い経験が、日本政府にはある。 その二年後、政府は人道的考慮、環境の保全など四項目からなる「政府開発援助（ＯＤＡ）大綱」を作った。輸銀融資はＯＤＡではないが、その精神は生かされるべきではないか。 中国では、同じ製品を作るのに日本より多くの電力を使う。発電効率も悪い。これらを向上させる技術協力であれば、だれからも歓迎されよう。 三峡ダムに公的資金を出す欧州の国もあるが、世界銀行ｍ曹ためになるのか。心配が残る。 〈斉〉
[1996-12-19-14:15]
Copyright, 1995 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The following news report
may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the
prior written consent of Reuters Ltd. By Jeffrey Parker SANDOUPING, China,
Dec 20 (Reuter) - Chinese engineers have one word for President Bill Clinton's
curbs on U.S. financing of the world's biggest dam spanning the mighty
Yangtze River -- foolish. After decades of political turbulence and false
starts, China began building last year the $30 billion dam named for the
river's scenic Three Gorges section, which will become a 660-km (410-mile)
long ribbon-like reservoir.
Though some Chinese and foreign experts have their doubts, China says it
can finance the 17 years of construction through treasury outlays, a national
electricity tax and earnings from other Yangtze hydropower projects, as
well as foreign credits and overseas bond issues for imports of specialised
equipment. Overseas contractors will bid furiously for $1 billion or more
of turbine and generator contracts alone, plus huge deals for equipment,
technology and expertise.
But there's serious doubt whether U.S. contractors should bother. President
Clinton's National Security Council advised in October that Washington
not offer export financing to Three Gorges, citing concerns over environmental
damage, human rights abuses and the Chinese government's financial clout.
The advisory is not binding on the U.S. Export-Import Bank, which has yet
to issue a decision on Three Gorges credits. Without Eximbank financing,
U.S. contractors simply would not be competitive -- despite what China's
dam builders say is a strong interest in U.S. technology.
"It's unfortunate that some countries would forego such an important
business opportunity, a project that is huge in scale and will last for
many years," senior engineer Li Junlin said above the roar of U.S.-made
Caterpillar tractors and trucks the size of houses gnawing at the hard
Hubei province granite. "We've bought a lot of equipment from the
Americans because the quality is so high," Li said from a bluff above
the muddy, roiling Yangtze, where an initial cofferdam is in place and
a cavernous shiplock channel is half-excavated.
Li's boss, president Lu Youmei of China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development
Corp, put it more bluntly. "I would tell him (Clinton) his decision
is very foolish," Lu told Reuters. "The loser is not China, but
U.S. firms that want to participate. Some Americans don't seem to realise
this. The international competition is intense." Canada, though loath
to break ranks with the United States, is expected to supply an initial
$30 million export credit in January for project-management computers.
U.S. contractors worry about more than just Three Gorges work, saying participation
in such a high-profile project would give them an inside track for other
big projects in China.
Goetz Pfafflin, head of a consortium grouping hydropower giant J.M. Voith
of the United States, General Electric Canada Inc and Siemens of Germany,
said a U.S. ban would force the group to source its equipment at non-U.S.
plants. "U.S. industry would be hurt enormously and not just in big
turbines and generators," he said, warning that U.S. diffidence could
cool Chinese interest in other U.S. cooperation. The financial fallout
could also rattle Wall Street. Investment analysts, noting China's resolve
to build the dam is backed by $73 billion in foreign exchange reserves,
say a ban would accomplish little besides cutting U.S. investment banks
out of millions in bond-issuing business.
China already seems leery of foreign finance, scrapping a planned 1995
international bond issue. Lu said an initial $200 million bond tranche
could be launched in 1996, but that no dam equity would be floated overseas
until the 21st century. Chinese experts warned at a December seminar that
Beijing lacked the means to finance 50 billion yuan ($6 billion) of the
estimated 250 billion ($30 billion) project cost.
They said the gap could best be closed by issuing bonds overseas and setting
up domestic investment funds. Officials say nothing can stop construction
of a dam which promises control of killer floods on the world's third-longest
river, 85 billion kilowatt hours of clean electricity a year -- one-ninth
of current total consumption -- and a "golden waterway" opening
Some 40 percent of dam's budget is going toward building new towns and
ensuring the livelihood of families forced to move as the communist government,
wary of the potential for unrest, shifts to persuasion where it once would
have used coercion.
"The merits outweigh the drawbacks," said dam-builder Lu, reciting
what has become a mantra to Three Gorges backers. Opinion in U.S. political
circles appears to be coming to the same conclusion. At least three Congressional
panels are challenging U.S. policy and lawmakers in Illinois have begun
a formal drive to reverse a ban they say would rob Caterpillar and other
equipment makers of hundreds of millions of dollars in business.
Lu said all infrastructure projects have critics, laughing that diehards
still oppose the Anglo-French Channel Tunnel. "The U.S. policy still
could change," he said. "The Clinton administration had concerns
about Three Gorges some years back, but then sent the Eximbank chief here
to discuss them."
REUTER