ABSTRACT
During the third session of the Sixth National Political Consultative Committee, many committee members expressed diverging opinions about the Three Gorges Project (TGP) and suggested that a field investigation of the project be conducted. In accordance with the opinions and demands of the members, the Economic Construction Group of the committee organized an investigative group led by its director, Sun Yueqi. Deputy leaders of this group were Lin Hua, deputy director of the Economic Construction Group and former vice-minister of the State Planning Commission; Xu Chi, adviser of the State Economic Commission; and Wang Xingrang, former vice-minister of commerce. Other members of the group were drawn from commission members and experts from other quarters. A thirty-eight-day field investigation was conducted from May 30 to July 6 in localities including Chengdu, Chongqing, Wanxian, Zigui, Yichang, Shashi, and Wuhan. Following the principle of "observe, listen, question, and record," the investigative group convened more than forty forums as well as on-site investigations. A total of over four hundred people attended the forums. They included high-ranking officials from ministries and bureaus of economic construction, transportation and communication, water resources and electric power, geology, seismology, meteorology, and hydrology; experts and scholars specializing in related fields; and members from the national and local political consultative committees. The investigative group consulted opinions from all quarters on the question of the TGP.
