reported by George Leung

(Click on group picture for a larger view)

Being trusted consultants to both Mainland China and Taiwan, members of the Chinese American Water Resources Association (CAWRA) were instrumental in initiating the First Cross-Strait Conference on Water Resources held in Beijing in 1995, and the Second Cross-Strait Conference held in Taipei in 1996. Carrying the torch along, the Third Cross-Strait Conference was hosted by the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR).

Attending the the Third Conference was certainly a highlight in my life as a member of CAWRA. In what follows I shall report on the main events surrounding the three-day Third Conference, and the subsequent six-day trip to China's northwestern Xinjiang Autonomous Region along the ancient Silk Road. Many conference participants brought their spouses and families with them to the conference in order to travel together through the fabled Silk Road.

Pre-conference meeting with the Ministry of Water Resources

Most overseas participants arrived two days early, on July 26. While nearly half of them stayed at the Beijing Hotel in downtown Beijing, the other half was given accommodation at the Xiyuan Hotel in the western part of the city, near to the conference site. Those who were free on July 27 (Sunday) were invited to a pre-conference meeting with members of China's Ministry of Water Resources. The meeting was held at the Dayuan Guesthouse in the scenic western outskirt of Beijing.

The meeting started early in the morning at 9:00 beginning with a welcoming address by Yan Keqiang, Vice Minister of the Ministry, and followed by a full presentation by Niu Maosheng, Minister of the Ministry, on the status of China's water resources, including its potential and problems, and the current efforts in conserving and managing water resources. Chief Engineer Zhu Erming then supplemented with an outline of China's programs in flood control, water supply, water and soil conservation, hydropower, and finance and management. Zhou Baozhi of the Ministry's Human Resources Department also added remarks on the training and utilization of technical personnel.

By 10:30 a recess was taken so as to take a group photo in the front of the guesthouse before Minister Niu's departure. The guesthouse had a classical exterior architectural design with airy exposed corridors and walkways, unlike most conference halls which are usually enclosed within compact quarters.

The meeting resumed at 10:45, and was chaired by Prof. Zheng Liandi, Secretary-General of the Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society (CHES), who raised the issue of training of technical personnel for developing and managing water resources. It solicited enthusiastic responses from the visiting academic group, including Prof. Shih Chia-Chang of the National Taiwan University, Dept of Agricultural Engineering; Prof. Lo Chien-Kuo of the California Polytechnic State University; Prof. Chan Hon Chuen and Prof. Joseph H.W. Lee, both of the University of Hong Kong, Dept of Civil and Structural Engineering; Prof. Chen Charng Ning, Deputy President of the Nanyang Technological University. The meeting recessed at noon for lunch.

The afternoon session was chaired by Prof. Liang Rui-Ju, President of IWHR, who first reported on the present status of research institutes in China, and in particular his own institute IWHR, which was supported by over 800 technical persons, 300 managing persons, 150 workers for its foundry, and 600 retired members. Among many issues raised and discussed, Prof. Liang spelled out two identifiable items which IWHR was currently in shortage, which were the knowledge of foreign languages and internet access capability. Zhou Baozhong, Director of the Nanjing Water Resources Research Center, also reported on current status of human resources and the utilization in China.

Many participants contributed their ideas to water resources, including Qian-ming Lu of the Danish Hydraulic Institute, Prof. Howard H. Chang of the San Diego State University, Dept of Civil Engineering; Dr. Shou-Shan Fan of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Prof. David T. Kao of the Iowa State University, Dept of Civil & Construction Engineering; Zhou Baozhi, Director of the Ministry's Department of Human Resources; Jiang Hongdao, President of the Hehai University; Prof. Shih Chia-Chang of the Taiwan University, Dept of Agricultural Engineering; Prof. Ben Chie Yen of the University of Illinois, Dept of Civil Engineering; Prof. Chao-Lin Chiu of the University of Pittsburgh, Dept of Civil Engineering; Dr. Shih Tun Su, Vice President of Harza Engineering Company; Dr. Tsong C. Wei of the Midwest International Inc; Dr. David Ta Wei Soong of the Illinois State Water Survey; and together with Wang Wenjiang and Bao Xianping (affiliations unknown). The meeting concluded with remarks by Vice Minister Yan Keqiang.

The Third Cross-Strait Conference

The morning sessions of the conference began at 9:00. Many of us staying at the Beijing Hotel must cross town to reach the conference site at the Institute of Water Resources & Hydropower Research in the western of the city. In anticipation for traffic delays, our group had breakfast at 7:00, and left the hotel for the conference at 7:30. With somewhat less traffic than expected, we arrived at the conference site at 8:15, giving us plenty of time to finish registration.

The morning sessions on July 28 began with welcoming speeches by the main organizers of the conference. They were given by Vice Minister Yan Keqian, Prof. Dong Zheren of Qinghua University; Prof. Yen Ching-Lien of the National Taiwan University, Conference's Vice Chair; Feng Hanbao; and Prof. Chiu Chao-lin of CAWRA, Conference's Vice Chair.

After a brief recess of 20 minutes, the morning sessions resumed at 10:00 with 5 very informative topical presentations. Prof. Liang Rui-ju of IWHR reported on China's drought and flood disasters in recent years; Prof. Hsu Ming-Hsi of the National Taiwan University gave an analysis of the a major typoon disaster afflicting Taiwan in 1996; Prof. Dong Zheren summarized some major advances in dealing with water resources in the 21st century; Prof. Yen Ching-Lien reported on Taiwan's research in disaster prevention; and Li Jingtang, Vice Chair of the Pearl River Water Resources Commission reported on study in sustainable development for the Pearl River basin.

With a large number of papers submitted for presentation, the afternoon sessions were divided into two parallel sessions, two hours each, to accommodate four diverse topics: (1) flood forecast and prevention, (2) water conservation measures for irrigation and city water supply, (3) sedimentation in reservoir and river channel, (4) practice and policy related to sustainable development of water resources. The parallel sessions were scheduled to end by 5:30, but because of the large of number of papers being presented, the conference ended around 6:00.

That evening the overseas participants together with their spouses were invited to a banquet hosted by several water conservancy organizations, including the Pearl River Conservancy Commission and other. It was held in the Beijing Hotel. It was a busy day.

The next day we again had breakfast at 7:00, and departed for conference site at 7:30. Conference programs started at 8:30 with two parallel sessions going on simultaneous. The same four topics as in the first day were addressed in these sessions in both the morning and afternoon programs, as well as in the next day.

In the evening the overseas participants were again invited to dine at the Diaoyutai Guesthouse. By the time we returned to the hotel it was already 9:30, and we needed to pack our belongings and prepare to check out of the hotel the next morning as the conference would end at noon the next day, and many of would depart for our week-long trip to Xinjiang without returning to the hotel again. It was going to be a hectic schedule.

The departure for the conference the following morning were doubly busy because we needed to check out of the hotel and brought our belongings with us (and spouses) to the conference site. It was amazing that it was managed without a hitch by the very capable Wang Lianxiang, Director of IWHR's Department of International Cooperation.

After two days of close association most participants got to know each other quite well. We had each other's specialties sufficiently well to seek out the right persons to talk about issues of special interest.

Conference adjourned shortly before noon for a photo session. (See group picture in the beginning of this page.) A group picture of CAWRA members at the conference was taken at this time. The conference proceedings would be published shortly by IWHR (whose Table of Contents is included in the link).

Lunch was served at IWHR's staff dining room in a very informal atmosphere. Immediately after lunch, conference participants and their spouses attending the Xinjiang trip would be driven to the airport to take the Beijing-Urumuqi flight to begin our post-conference program.

The Xinjiang trip will be reported in a second article.