Dam Shame

Merrill Lynch and Citigroup say they received assurances that none of that $500 million would go to Three Gorges. Even if that were true, says IRN's Shen, the fresh cash would certainly free up other China Development Bank resources for the dam. When it comes to Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, she's ready to declare war. IRN has launched a slick, comprehensive Web site, floodwallstreet.org, and begun organizing its boycott. It's not clear how effective that action will be—IRN has canceled a planned demonstration outside the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter annual meeting because it's too busy working with other groups on a massive April 16 protest of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. But IRN's campaign against Discover is endorsed by more than 40 other groups, whose combined mailing list numbers in the millions.

Meanwhile, the political mood in China may be shifting. The current premier, Zhu Rongji, "has never said a kind word about the dam," says Shen. He has launched a campaign to root out massive dam-related corruption. (China has said that around $600 million has been embezzled, and one official who stole $1.4 million and used it in gambling parties was recently sentenced to death.)

illustration: Brad Kendall

Related Content

• Michael Bloomberg Talks Trash: Will Mayor's Waste-to-Energy Plan Survive Critics?
  April 19, 2012
• Seabrook Power Plant
  January 4, 2012
• Richard Breunich, JP Morgan Executive, Has Carte Blanche At NYPD Headquarters
  April 11, 2012
• Is Your Definition of Organic the Same as the USDA's? Cornucopia Institute Declares an Organic Watergate
  May 18, 2012
• Don't Worry, New Jersey -- That Green Water's Totally Safe To Drink (According to Water Company, Anyway)
  May 17, 2012

More About

• Investment Banking
• Securities and Commodity Contracts Services
• Doris Shen
• Government and Politics
• Economic Issues

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: (Sent out every Thursday) Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

"The political will is waning," says FOE's Chan-Fishel. "We are optimistic the dam can be stopped." As the Chinese struggle to build a dam, the fate of a river, millions of people, and several species may depend on activists' abilities to stanch a flow of money. "The Three Gorges Dam needs capital from Western capital markets," says Billenness. "And if the project doesn't get that capital, then it is not going to go forward."