Focus on Arts and Ecology

The heavy rains that have been affecting various parts of southern China this summer reached historic levels in Sichuan this week. The province has been put on its highest level of flood alert, while the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei, through which Sichuan’s rainwaters drain, has drawn national attention as its reservoir reaches its highest ever level – 10 meters above the official warning level – and see the fastest recorded inflow of water – 74,000 cubic metres per second. 
 
The controversial mega-dam, the origins of which go back to the early 20th century, was in part designed to protect the densely populated downstream regions of the Yangtze River from flooding. Currently facing its greatest test since construction was completed in 2006, authorities have insisted the dam is safe and this week opened more sluice gates to relieve pressure behind the wall. 
 
The floods are having an enormous economic impact across the region, at a time when regional economies are just beginning to get on their feet again after the impacts of Covid-19. Companies across Sichuan have reported having to halt production, as well as damage to machinery and workspaces. Direct economic losses are expected to be around 179 billion yuan (US$25 billion), according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
 
On 18 August, during a visit to Anhui province, the southern section of which sits downstream of the Three Gorges Dam and has already been hit hard by flooding earlier this summer, President Xi Jinping invoked Chinese history and mythology.

“From ‘The fool who moved mountains’ to ‘Great Yu controlling the floods’, the Chinese people have fought with natural disasters for thousands of years” he said. “This has given us precious experience, and we will continue the fight. But this fight must respect nature [and] follow the rules of nature.”
 
Xi echoed the message the next day in Hefei, the provincial capital: “We should establish a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. Nature and development should not be in competition.”