ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a factor that may have contributed to the resettlement policy change for the Three Gorges dam project: the changing shape of decision-making in China. The growing importance of information in decision-making has made the Chinese leadership increasingly aware of the need to seek information from think tanks and research institutes. The chapter explains the interaction between these factors, the leadership, knowledge-based decision-making and the media, has had an important impact on the dam project, and may have made the resettlement policy change possible. It focuses on the importance of the leadership change in relation to the resettlement policy change. A scholarly debate has been going on for many years about the resettlement and environmental issues. The chapter concludes with the change of leadership has had significant impact on two areas related to the Three Gorges project: the resettlement policy and the media reporting about the project.
