Torrential rainfall in China this month has flooded over a hundred cities, displaced millions of people, and stoked fears of a possible "Black swan event" in the form of the famous Three Gorges Dam collapsing.
The smaller dam's failure had not been reported by local media, raising questions of what the Chinese government could be hiding about the Three Gorges.
China's economic and technological development brought the promise of finally taming its scourges, and indeed one of the frequently touted benefits of the Three Gorges Dam at the time of its opening in 2003 was its ability to mitigate floods.
The Three Gorges Dam is indeed grand: it is over two kilometers long and is the world's largest hydroelectric dam by installed capacity, capable of generating more than the next four largest dams combined.
Though no specific reference to the Three Gorges Dam was made, the term proliferated among observers bracing for disaster.
Beijing has mostly reacted by issuing a series of denials and insisting that the Three Gorges Dam is still far below capacity.
In response to mounting video and photo evidence that parts of the dam were structurally compromised the government has conceded that the dam has "Deformed slightly." due to the flooding, insisting that it is nonetheless at no risk of failure.
The smaller dam's failure had not been reported by local media, raising questions of what the Chinese government could be hiding about the Three Gorges.
China's economic and technological development brought the promise of finally taming its scourges, and indeed one of the frequently touted benefits of the Three Gorges Dam at the time of its opening in 2003 was its ability to mitigate floods.
The Three Gorges Dam is indeed grand: it is over two kilometers long and is the world's largest hydroelectric dam by installed capacity, capable of generating more than the next four largest dams combined.
Though no specific reference to the Three Gorges Dam was made, the term proliferated among observers bracing for disaster.
Beijing has mostly reacted by issuing a series of denials and insisting that the Three Gorges Dam is still far below capacity.
In response to mounting video and photo evidence that parts of the dam were structurally compromised the government has conceded that the dam has "Deformed slightly." due to the flooding, insisting that it is nonetheless at no risk of failure.
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