The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 561: Things that can be solved with money are not a big deal
The Three Gorges Project is an idea proposed by Sun Yat-sen in 1919. At that time, American water conservancy experts were invited to conduct a demonstration, and the results showed that it was feasible.

During the following thirty years of the Republic of China, the feasibility study work for the Three Gorges Project never stopped.

After the founding of the Republic, starting in 1953, many leaders discussed and planned the Three Gorges Project. At the Nanning meeting in January 1958, the leaders proposed that the meeting be arranged to discuss the Three Gorges Project, and sent a plane to pick up Lin Yishan and Li Rui, representatives of two different opinions on the construction of the Three Gorges Project, to the meeting and ask them to express their views. As early as 1, Lin and Li published articles with opposing views in professional journals, and the debate was fierce.

After listening to opinions from all sides, the leaders put forward the policy of "active preparation and full reliability" for the construction of the Three Gorges Project. This policy was formed by affirming the construction of the Three Gorges Project while fully absorbing the reasonable part of the opposing opinions.

After the reform and opening up, the Three Gorges Project was once again on the agenda. The pro-construction faction represented by Lin Yishan and the opposition faction represented by Li Rui repeatedly presented their respective views to the central government, and many people from all walks of life also put forward a large number of opinions and suggestions through various channels.

The highest decision-making bodies of the Party and the State carried forward the tradition of democratic decision-making on the Three Gorges Project by the previous generation of leaders, actively welcomed opposing opinions, and absorbed their reasonable core as much as possible.

In 1979, the Ministry of Water Resources reported to the State Council on the Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project, suggesting that the central government make a decision as soon as possible. In July 1980, the old man took a boat from Shancheng to observe the Three Gorges Dam site, Gezhouba construction site and Jingjiang Dam, and listened to the report on the Three Gorges Project. In 7, when listening to the report on the construction of the Three Gorges Project, he made a decisive statement: "Once you have made up your mind, don't waver!" In 1981, the "Feasibility Study Report on the Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project" organized and compiled by the Yangtze River Basin Planning Office was approved in principle, and the low dam plan with a water storage level of 1984 meters was initially determined for the Three Gorges Project.

Even last year, when the old man met with Fu Chaoshu, chairman of the American "China News", he said: For such a major event that concerns future generations as the construction of the Three Gorges Project, the Chinese government will definitely give careful consideration, and will only decide to start construction when there is a plan with the greatest benefits and the least disadvantages. It will never be done rashly.

Also last year, the higher authorities decided to further expand the feasibility study and instructed the Ministry of Water Resources to submit a new feasibility report for the Three Gorges Project. The Three Gorges Project Feasibility Study Leading Group, headed by Qian Zhengying, set up 14 expert groups to carry out the feasibility study.

After a year and a half of discussion, the "Feasibility Study Report on the Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project on the Yangtze River" re-compiled by the Yangtze River Basin Planning Office will be submitted to the meeting again.

As one leader said: "Any opinions are based on responsibility to the country and the people. These opinions have played a very positive role in increasing the depth of argumentation, improving argumentation work and perfecting argumentation results."

Liu Tao supports the Three Gorges Project, but he does not dislike opponents like Li Rui and Huang Wanli, because these opponents play a positive role in the democratic decision-making process. Some opposing opinions can make the argument more scientific and the implementation process more perfect. From this perspective, their contributions should be affirmed.

As for not building it because of the disadvantages, that is also impossible.

Because any water conservancy project has both advantages and disadvantages, there is no 100% benefit! Whether a water conservancy project is built or not, the important thing is whether the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages!
Whether to build the Three Gorges Dam is a question of weighing the pros and cons, and we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

An important matter for Liu Tao's return to Beijing this time was to attend a seminar on the Three Gorges Project.

As expected, the meeting just started and immediately split into two distinct factions, with the pro-construction faction and the opposition faction confronting each other diametrically. The pro-construction faction emphasized the benefits of the Three Gorges Project after its completion, while the opposition faction emphasized the disadvantages of the Three Gorges Project.

"Nowadays, a large number of reservoirs and hydropower stations are being built in the southwest. For example, the four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River that have completed the project approval will have an annual power generation that will be more than twice that of the Three Gorges Project. In the face of such great controversy, I suggest not to build the Three Gorges Project." Huang Wanli turned a corner.

In recent years, with the continuous construction of reservoirs and hydropower stations in the southwest, a large amount of electricity has been transmitted out, greatly alleviating the electricity consumption situation.

"According to the results of our demonstration, it is better to build than not to build, and it is better to build early than late." Qian Zhengying said the conclusion of the expert group's demonstration over the past year and a half.

"Comrade Liu Tao, tell me what you think." The old man looked at Liu Tao and called out his name.

Liu Tao paused for a moment and said, "There is no such thing as a 100% beneficial situation for the Three Gorges Project, or any other water conservancy project. Whether to build the Three Gorges Project is a question of weighing the pros and cons."

"For example, a comrade just mentioned that the static total investment of 650 billion is an astronomical figure, and the total project investment is as high as 1000 billion, which will bring huge financial pressure to the country. Regarding the funding issue, I think there is no need to discuss it. Not to mention the static total investment of 650 billion, even if it is doubled to 1300 billion, as long as it is necessary, it can be built." Liu Tao said: "There is also the issue of immigration. It is estimated that 130 million immigrants will be involved. It is very important to resettle the immigrants. I think this problem and that problem are ultimately a matter of money. If you think the subsidy is too little, you can increase it."

He planned to resettle these 130 million immigrants to Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, which are in urgent need of population. With these 130 million people plus the 40 people needed to be relocated for the construction of the four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River, the total number of people would be 170 million.

These 170 million people can greatly improve the situation in Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

As for the increase in costs, Panshan Group currently lacks everything except money.

As long as it can be solved with money, it’s not a big deal.

"Similarly, with regard to cultural relics, we can increase investment in their protection. For example, those that can be placed in museums can be placed in museums, and those that cannot be placed in museums can be moved to other places for reconstruction."

Many of the opposition’s opinions are actually about money.

As for cases where money is not an issue, there are some, but not many.

This is not a money issue, so it is difficult to solve.

"As for the technology, we have built a large number of reservoirs and hydropower stations in the southwest in recent years and have accumulated a lot of technology. I think the time is ripe to build the Three Gorges Project now," said Liu Tao.

In recent years, a large number of reservoirs and hydropower stations have been built in the southwest region, which has indeed trained a strong technical team.

Moreover, through the construction of these basic livelihood projects, the relevant supporting facilities have now been basically complete.

It is for this reason that the four major hydropower stations on the Jinsha River are being put into operation at this time.

If not, even with the experience of building the Gezhouba Dam, it would probably take 20 years to complete the Three Gorges Project if it were launched at this time.

Now, according to Liu Tao's estimation, it will only take about ten years to complete the Three Gorges Project.

The others looked at Liu Tao in shock. They had not expected that Liu Tao's perspective would be so unique and he could solve most of the problems directly with money.

You know, the money required for the Three Gorges Project is over 100 billion RMB.

This is not a small amount of money, but an astronomical amount of money.

(End of this chapter)