Recently, Mainland media reported on the secretive
Three Gorges project bidding and subcontracting.
It was reported that several retired senior officials
also intervened in the project bidding.
The Chinese Communist Party(CCP) calls for bringing
corrupt officials of all ranks to justice while exposing
the Three Gorges project corruption in a high-profile manner.
Who are these big shots?
Mainland media quoted an anonymous
Three Gorges project bidder who mentioned
that the total amount of the annual tendering
is over100 million.
Before this year, no formal bidding took place.
According to the report, a person from the Three Gorges
Corporation said that senior managers within the group,
as well as their relatives, often meddle in project tendering
and transfer benefits.
It is an open secret.
An indignant employee of a Wuhan-based company said,
"We provided the lowest quote, only70 million.
Another company's bid came in at80 million.
However, the business was taken away by a company
with a100 million offer."
The employee also recalled that during the bidding evaluation
process, one judge from the evaluation committee offered
him a1 million bribe so as to guarantee a safe bid.
The report quoted a person from the Three Gorges
Corporation who said,"This phenomenon is common.
If you are serious, there will be a detailed investigation.
The problems exposed at present are quite small."
According to media estimates, Chinese people have spent over
500 billion RMB on the Three Gorges project since1992.
However, according to a report of the central inspection
work leading group and the National Audit office,
the internal staff of Three Gorges Corporation have used
a variety of ways to occupy national assets and monopolize
public resources for many years.
The corruption, waste and transportation interests
have almost reached past the point of control.
Commentator Xia Xiaoqiang said that at present,
most of the high-level corruption fighting within the CCP
is related to the big shots.
The investigation of the Three Gorges project corruption
is pointing to the key figures of the Three Gorges project—
former CCP leaders Li Peng and Jiang Zemin.
Xia Xiaoqiang:"The CCP is a corrupt regime.
Most of the high-level families get involved in corruption.
Therefore, only the corrupt are unlikely to become big shots
in the anti-corruption movement.
Li Peng did not get involved in the coup conspiracy plans
of the Jiang Zemin group, and he has little relations
with Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai.
Therefore, he could hardly be considered a big shot.
The bosses behind Zhou Yongkang, Zeng Qinghong
and Jiang Zemin could be the ultimate target."
The Three Gorges project has impacted
the environment in eight ways thus far,
including causing sedimentation, geological disasters,
earthquakes and other serious ecological problems.
In fact, the Three Gorges project needed the resettlement
of a population of more than1.2 million people living
in Chongqing, Hubei and other areas along
the Yangtze River.
The resettlement accounted for45 percent
of the project budget.
Huang Wanli, a professor from the Department of Hydraulic
Engineering, Tsinghua University, is a famous water
conservancy expert.
He submitted six letters to the central government justifying
why a stop should be put to the Three Gorges project.
He said if the Three Gorges dam is built,
it will be forced to blow eventually.
Zhang Junfeng, a private water conservancy expert who
participated in the Three Gorges project, said the project was
highly politicized and some of the major government leaders
did not consider its ecology and environmental impact.
Zhang Junfeng:"On the surface, the National People's
Congress passed the project.
In fact, according to the rules of our government operations
and its process, the final decision should be made
by a number of central leaders
such as Jiang Zemin and Li Peng."
The"Resolution on the construction of the Three Gorges
project" was passed during the Fifth Session of the Seventh
National People's Congress on April3,1992.
On Oct.16,1994, Jiang Zemin visited the site of the Three
Gorges and gave instructed that the project be commenced.
On Dec.14,1994, Li Peng announced
the Three Gorges project had officially begun.
Li Peng revealed in his memoirs that the Three Gorges
dam is the first place Jiang Zemin visited
after he became the General Secretary.
Li Peng also said that all the major Three Gorges decisions
were made under the auspices of Jiang Zemin after1989.
He has played an important leadership role in the construction
of the Three Gorges project.
In fact, during the Three Gorges project completion
celebration in2009, no CCP leader offered
on-site congratulations.
It seems that the CCP was aware of the problems
involving the Three Gorges project.
Interview、Chen Han Edit/Song Feng Post-Production/Li Yong
