The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held its first Issues Roundtable of 2005, entitled "Environmental NGOs in China: Encouraging Action and Addressing Public Grievances" on Monday, February 7, from 2:00 - 3:30 PM in Room 2255 of the Rayburn House Office Building. 

Rapid economic growth in China has resulted in massive degradation of China's rivers, marshes, and forests, prompting the rise of a new generation of citizen activists who challenge government policies. Victims of environmental pollution, farmers displaced by huge hydroelectric power projects, and citizens concerned with the loss of China's natural wildlife are joining an increasing number of Chinese environmental NGOs to make their voices heard on the issues that affect them.

This Roundtable examined the role Chinese non-governmental organizations play in allowing Chinese citizens a voice on national environmental policy, and their ability to serve as a channel for the grievances of individual victims harmed by particular projects.

The panelists:

Elizabeth Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director of Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Economy is an expert on U.S-China. relations and Chinese domestic and foreign policy, with particular focus on the environment. She is a member of multiple academic and nongovernmental organizations focused on U.S-China. and environmental issues, including the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development, the Scholars' Environmental Change and Security Project of the Woodrow Wilson International Center; and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. She is the author of The River Runs Black, a book on the environmental challenges to China's future.

Patricia Adams, Executive Director of Probe International.

Patricia Adams is the Executive Director of Probe International, an independent think-tank which examines the environmental consequences of Canadian government and corporate activities around the world. Her books include In the Name of Progress: The Underside of Foreign Aid and Odious Debts: Loose Lending, Corruption and the Third World's Environmental Legacy. She also edited the English language translation of Yangtze! Yangtze!, the critique of the Three Gorges dam by Chinese experts that was banned after its publication resulted in the postponement of construction on the dam.

Jiang Ru, Ph.D. in Environmental Management and Planning, Stanford University.

Dr. Ru is an expert on environmental planning, management, and NGOs in China. His dissertation examined how the Chinese state implemented its NGO regulations and policies and how environmental NGOs acted under such state controls at the end of the 1990s and the first few years of the 21st century. He is working with the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. and consulting for the World Bank on China’s environmental issues.


Written Statements:

• Elizabeth Economy
• Patricia Adams
• Jiang Ru