Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Boys cool off in the waters of Wangkuai Reservoir, one of three reservoirs in Hebei province which supplies Beijing, June 2009. Water to sustain growth and development in Beijing comes from Hebei, a region that has been stricken by drought for much of the last decade yet continues to play a crucial role as part of China’s hugely ambitious but troubled South-North Water Diversion Project.

Zhao Liang and the South-North Water Diversion Project

  • by Kaiser Kuo, Edward Wong, Kathleen McLaughlin, William Moss
  • August 27, 2011

This week on Sinica: China makes an about-face on Libya, we discuss a recent controversy in Beijing’s arts community over independent filmmaker Zhao Liang, and get an on-the-ground update on the state of China’s South-North Water Diversion Project, a little-publicized infrastructure effort that already dwarfs the Three Gorges Dam in both its human and environmental impact.

And we’re lucky to have an incredible line-up of guests. Joining Kaiser Kuo in our studio this week is Ed Wong from the New York Times, whose recent profile of independent filmmaker Zhao Liang sets the stage for our discussion today. Kathleen McLaughlin from the Global Post is also here, freshly back in Beijing from a trip to Shaanxi to investigate the state of China’s plans to redirect southern water to the country’s parched north. We are also lucky to be joined by Sinica stalwart Will Moss of Imagethief fame.

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Topics: 
Arts, Environment
Keywords: 
Podcast, Documentary Film, South-to-North Water Transfer, Film and Television