ABSTRACT
The Three Gorges Project is a mega project that has captured worldwide attention. The project not only requires huge investment, extends over a long construction period, and touches on numerous problems and various complicated, interrelated factors, it also involves such areas as science and technology, economics, politics, society, environment, and national defense. The soundness of decisions made on the TGP will have a tremendous impact on the entire national economy. Because the TGP is an integrated national mega project that transcends departments, industries, and regions, considerations must not be based solely on the partial benefits generated for one department, one region, or in one particular period of time. Instead, assessment must be viewed from the long-term and overall benefits to the people. A systematic evaluation of the TGP should not be confined to the technical aspects such as hydrology, siltation, inundation, resettlement, geology, earthquakes, ecology, hydraulic structures, and electrical engineering, or benefits like power generation, flood control, and navigation. The project should be assessed from the following three macro aspects: (1) comprehensive development of the entire Changjiang River basin; (2) the overall energy policy in China; and (3) the overall strategy for economic and social development in China.
