bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Zhang Guangdou is paying a heavy price for changing his mind on the Sanmenxia dam.

The renowned Tsinghua University hydrologist and member of the China Academy of Sciences was one of the main engineers and supporters of the dam when it was being planned and built in the late 1950s.

However, the 92-year-old's views took a dramatic turn last November in an interview with China Central Television.

Professor Zhang declared the dam was a mistake and backed a proposal from another previous dam supporter, former water resources minister Qian Zhengying, that the facility be de-commissioned and the Yellow River allowed to run free to prevent flooding upstream.

When asked about the change of heart, he said the people upstream had suffered too much.

Professor Zhang's views received widespread coverage in the mainland media but did not win him any friends. Instead, he was chastised by colleagues and abused on internet chat-rooms.

'Why is he saying that now and not when he was managing the project? He can't simply shed his responsibility. It is simply unbelievable,' said one who claimed to be a retired engineer who had worked on the Sanmenxia dam.

Professor Zhang refused to be interviewed.

'I'm not talking to the media anymore. Leave me alone,'  he said when called at his home.

In an interview with a Beijing television station, Professor Zhang said he did have reservations about the dam but did not air them due to the political climate at the time. The dam was built on the advice of Soviet experts at the peak of good relations  between the mainland and the former USSR.

'We could do nothing about it because we had to heed the Soviet experts ... Actually, I did get into an argument with them, but somebody persuaded me to hold back to protect myself,' he said.

A Ministry of Water Resources engineer expressed sympathy for Professor Zhang and said the media was exploiting the professor for the sake of a good story.

'A person's best time is not when he is 92-years-old,' said the engineer.



Hydrologist, 92, under fire for saying project was a mistake