Yes these are separate dams. However, they both have similar effects - flooding of large areas, relocation of people, extinction of species / loss of historical artifacts.
But there is also significant benefits to these dams. Three gorges dam generates 95 TWh annually. My quick google search shows Finland consumes 82 TWH annually. This amount of energy is generated with no emission of co2. China has no oil and gas, hence if its not for these dams, most of this energy will be generated with coal. How much co2, so2, other particular matter will that generate? How much damage will that have on people's health? How many people will get health problems from that? I was in China in the 90s, I remember how scarce electricity was back then. ACs, heating, home appliances, industrial development, hospitals all require electricity. Without this power, people's lives and economy will not develop. How many people will die of poverty (poverty induces health problems from starvation and malnutrition, poverty causes crime, family and social issues). These dams are also crucial for irrigation. The mass famine in the 60s, one of the core issues is lack of agricultural development and irrigation is crucial for that. Another crucial aspect is flood control. These days significant lives and economic disruptions are avoided because of the extensive set of dams to control flood water. The Yangtze River flood of 1998 resulted total loss of 4150 people, and 180 million people were affected. Around 100,000 square kilometres (25,000,000 acres) were evacuated, and 13.3 million houses were damaged or destroyed. A similar size flood season occurred in 2020 and 2016, the damage resulted was much smaller. You cannot simply ignore all these benefits.
The Gezhouba Dam was constructed in 1988s, back then people's understanding of ecology and conservation was poor. And people were starving, economy was so poor that its hard to imagine what it was like back then. I think its not too crazy to think that people would prioritize certain things over others. Today, ecology considerations are very much part of the construction process.
As the article also suggested, overfishing is another huge contributor to ecosystem loss. In 60s, the Chinese paddlefish was being fished and sold like cabbages. By the 80s, fisherman would catch very little of the fish. The poor yield pushed some fisherman to use extreme tactics, like electric fishing and explosives, and that causes even more damages to the fish population. Last year, the yangtz protection law was passed. There is a host of actions there but one of it is complete ban of fishing on the yangtz for 10 years. And there are over 280,000 fisherman on the yangtz. There are also lots of government effort to support their livelihoods and transition them to other jobs.http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/c23934/202103/8cccd3c25caf4...
Just because they are on Taobao doesn't mean they are not against the law.
From my own observations, law enforcement in Mainland China is mostly reactive when it comes to product safely. They don't enforce a law unless something becomes an actual, big enough problem - especially if it threatens (the image of) the people in power.
It really depends on the power. The lasers the protesters use wouldn't blind you due to the blink reflex. If what you're saying was true, hundreds of police officers would be blind right now.
The first time I read this quote is in Peter Hessler's Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory.
He use it to summarize Chinese reform and opening. You cannot get any permission from goverment, but you can try it first. If something bad happens, ask forgiveness. It maybe the core reason of Chinese speed.
People who concerns their information source are keeping using RSS all the time. RSS can confirm you receives all the news you subscribed everyday and decide read which article by yourself.
I hate some new media who provides App only. App can increase DAU and maybe better for their KPI, but will lose serious reader.
