Posted on 09/14/2004 4:37:27 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Move to protect dam from any terrorist attack comes after Beijing denounced a US Pentagon suggestion that Taiwan could target it in defence
BEIJING - China has dispatched heavily-armed troops to the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, to guard against any terrorist attack, Chinese media reported yesterday.
'The move symbolises the completion of the deployment of armed, anti-terror troops at big bridges, dams and hydropower plants along large rivers,' said Chinese news portal Sina.com, citing state-run China Central Television.
The report did not say when the forces began patrolling waters near the US$25 billion (S$42.5 billion) project in central Hubei province.
It said military police have been training a 'pool of talented anti-terrorist professionals' and that China has trained its anti-terror forces with 'powerful style, flexible command and specific strengths'.
Soldiers manning the dam had been equipped with military helicopters, airships, patrol boats, armoured vehicles and robots to defuse bombs.
The Sina report said that any terrorist or bomb attacks on water conservancy facilities such as dams during China's rainy season could cause its rivers to overflow their banks and result in severe flooding.
'The extent of the damage could be worse than what tens or even 100 nuclear weapons can cause,' the report said.
No mention was made of who China suspects could target the Three Gorges Dam, but Beijing was outraged in June when the US Pentagon's annual report to Congress suggested that Taiwan could attack the project as a counter-measure to any Chinese invasion of the island.
Chinese military officials at the time warned that any attack from Taiwan would provoke a devastating response from China and vowed that 'the dam will not collapse and cannot be destroyed'.
People's Liberation Army (PLA) Lieutenant-General Liu Yuan, a son of late president Liu Shaoqi, told China Youth Daily in June that China would be 'seriously on guard against threats from Taiwan independence terrorists'.
China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has repeatedly threatened to retake the island, by force if necessary, since their post-civil war split in 1949.
The controversial Three Gorges project is meant to tame the flood-prone Yangtze and increase the country's power supply.
Days of torrential rain last week have put the dam project on alert and forced navigation to be suspended for the first time in more than a year.
Critics have cited environmental problems, including silt accumulation and pollution controls in hundreds of cities and villages along the reservoir.
It was first proposed decades ago but construction began only in 1993 because the late Mao Zedong wanted to ensure that the PLA could defend it against any attack by Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang troops.
I love it when the noose over their heads are of their own making.
I've heard Egypt is in a similar situation and that is why they are at least vocally a proponent of speech. They have damns that Israel could and would target, if war ever broke out that would be devastating to Egypt.
Please ping to Frank G- and Mr. H-.
I suppose it’s possible… I was thinking that guarding something like that with soldiers is pretty laughable. You’re going to have to use something bigger than a truck bomb or airplane to break their dam. At least going by the pictures I’ve seen…
'The extent of the damage could be worse than what tens or even 100 nuclear weapons can cause,' the report said.
Heh. How about 15 days before the election, GWB calls them up and asks them if they remember the EP-3 incident. When they indicate they do, he can tell them to look out the window so they can watch their dam disappear.
“F with our plane, F with your future”… click. I’d consider voting for someone like that. [Yes, I’m aware it won’t happen.]
That cracks me up. Before...we were "on guard". Now we are "Seriously on guard!"
I think the biggest issue they have to worry about with that damn is silt. That river carrys a lot of it.
It would not take but a few years for that to start causing problems, if not dealt with on a countinuous basis.
LVM
Isn't it interesting how Hollywood affects one's view of the world. I am reminded of the scene from "Force 10 from Navarone" where the explosives expert explains -- destroying a dam is much easier than destroying a bridge, as the physics are working with you, not against you.
Kind of what I had in mind with my comments.
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
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