“China denies millions of lives at risks as catastrophic flooding threatens Three Gorges Dam”, 23 June 2020

As many as 400 million lives may be at risk as torrential rain in China threatens the world’s largest dam.

The Chinese government has moved to defend the structural integrity of the massive Three Gorges Dam, as a hydrology expert took to international media over the weekend to warn it could collapse at any moment.

The warning came as more details emerged over the drowning of eight children swept to their deaths in the swollen Fu River, upstream of the dam…

On Monday, Chongqing issued its first red alert over the flooding since 1940, warning of “super historic flooding”…

And social media is awash with images of buildings being swept downstream, submerged cars and city streets being turned into fast-flowing rivers…

German-Chinese hydrologist Wang Weiluo told Radio France Internationale… the Three Gorges Dam dam’s design, construction, and quality inspection were all carried out by the same group of people.

And he said the project was finished too quickly.

“Chinese water conservancy experts have been distressed by the government on the issue of the Three Gorges,” he is quoted as saying, with the Chinese language media site CT Want quoting Wang saying there was a “serious concern over cracks and substandard concrete discovered” during the dam’s construction.

He said a failure of the dam would have “catastrophic consequences” for individuals residing in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and that they should prepare for evacuation as soon as possible, the news site reported…

Official Chinese media quoted China Three Gorges Corporation’s WeChat group at the time, saying the apparent dam deformation was part of the structure’s “elastic state” design and within permissible variation.

On Monday, the Chinese government-controlled Global Times said the dam was at not at risk…