Editing Three Gorges Dam (section)

== Other effects ==
=== Cultural and history ===
The area which would fill with water behind the dam included locations with significant cultural history.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}} The State Council authorized a ¥505 million archaeology salvage effort.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}} Over the course of several years, archaeologists excavated 723 sites and conducted surface archaeology recovery missions at an additional 346 sites.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}} Archaeologists recovered 200,000 artifacts of which 13,000 were considered as particularly historically or culturally notable.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}} As part of this effort, the old Chongqing City Museum was replaced by the Chongqing China Sanxia Museum to house many of the recovered artifacts.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}}

Recovered structures that were too large for museums were moved upland to reconstruction districts (''fu jian qu''), which are outdoor museum parks. Recovered structures placed in such parks include temples, pavilions, houses, and bridges, among others.<ref name=":122" />{{Rp|page=206}}

Some sites could not be moved because of their location, size, or design, such as the [[hanging coffins]] site high in the [[Shen Nong Stream|Shen Nong Gorge]], part of the cliffs.<ref name="Hogan">{{cite news | url=http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17946 | title=Shen Nong Gorge Hanging Coffins | publisher=The Megalithic Portal | access-date=January 20, 2008 | archive-date=June 10, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610104958/http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17946 | author=C.Michael Hogan | editor=Andy Burnham | url-status=live}}</ref>

=== National security ===
A 2004 [[United States Department of Defense]] report stated that "Since Taipei cannot match Beijing’s ability to field offensive systems, proponents of strikes against the mainland apparently hope that merely presenting credible [[Civilian victimization|threats to China's urban population]] or high-value targets, such as the Three Gorges Dam, will deter Chinese military coercion."<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=August 6, 2009 | url=http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/d20040528PRC.pdf | title=Annual report on the military power of the People's Republic of China | publisher=[[US Department of Defense]] | date=2004 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806235538/http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/d20040528PRC.pdf | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartfiel |first1=Robert |last2=Job |first2=Brian L. |title=Raising the risks of war: defence spending trends and competitive arms processes in East Asia |journal=The Pacific Review |date=15 March 2007 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1080/09512740601133138}}</ref> In response, the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China)|Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] characterized the U.S. report as "[[Cold War]] mentality harbouring evil intentions."<ref>{{cite web |title=China decries US advice for Taiwan |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/6/16/china-decries-us-advice-for-taiwan |website=Al Jazeera |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250511094337/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/6/16/china-decries-us-advice-for-taiwan |archive-date=11 May 2025 |date=16 June 2004}}</ref><ref name=smh1764>{{cite web |title=China flexes its muscles over Taiwan |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-flexes-its-muscles-over-taiwan-20040617-gdj541.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250511093955/https://www.smh.com.au/world/china-flexes-its-muscles-over-taiwan-20040617-gdj541.html |archive-date=11 May 2025 |date=17 June 2004}}</ref> The [[People's Liberation Army]] Lieutenant General Liu Yuan cautioned that "[It] will not be able to stop war. It will have the exact opposite of the desired effect."<ref name=smh1764/> He also remarked that China would be "seriously on guard against threats from [[Taiwan independence]] terrorists."<ref name=smh1764/>

Sung Chao-wen, a senior advisory committee member of the Taiwanese [[Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China)|Ministry of Defense]], called online remarks about using missiles to destroy the Three Gorges Dam "ridiculous", saying that the dam's high-strength reinforced concrete could withstand a small nuclear weapon, missile attacks would have to go through multiple layers of ground and air defenses, and missiles would only deliver minimal damage if they even could reach the dam.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3269169 |title=Can Taiwanese missiles destroy Three Gorges Dam? Only tiny dents: expert |website=Taiwan News |date=November 6, 2017 |archive-date=December 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227025640/https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3269169 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.setn.com/News.aspx?NewsID=301775 |title=台灣射彈攻擊三峽大壩？綠網民遭專家打臉直轟：軍事白癡！ |website=[[SET News]] |date=November 6, 2017}}</ref> Zhang Boting, deputy secretary-general of China Society for Hydropower Engineering, said that the Three Gorges Dam was designed as a concrete [[gravity dam]] and would therefore be resistant to [[nuclear attack]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1928774/chinas-three-gorges-dam-can-survive-nuclear-attack-says-nations |title=China's Three Gorges Dam 'can survive nuclear attack' says nation's hydropower expert after academics raise safety concerns |website=South China Morning Post |date=March 22, 2016}}</ref>

Debate among Chinese scholars and analysts about the basic principles of China's [[no first use]] (NFU) of nuclear weapons policy includes questions about whether to add narrow exceptions, such as acts that produce catastrophic consequences equivalent to that of a nuclear attack, including attacks intended to destroy the Three Gorges Dam.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pan |first=Zhenqiang |title=Understanding: Chinese Nuclear Thinking |date=2016 |publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |location=Washington, DC |chapter=China's No First Use of Nuclear Weapons|jstor=resrep26903}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fravel |first1=M. Taylor |last2=Medeiros |first2=Evan S. |title=China's Search for Assured Retaliation: The Evolution of Chinese Nuclear Strategy and Force Structure |journal=International Security |date=October 2010 |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=48–87 |doi=10.1162/ISEC_a_00016|hdl=1721.1/60548 |s2cid=38157268 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Supporters of the NFU policy, however, have maintained the view that foreign conventional attacks of such targets including the dam—intended to cause mass [[civilian casualties]] and economic losses—are highly unlikely.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Li |first1=Nan |title=China’s Evolving Nuclear Strategy: Will China Drop “No First Use?” |url=https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-evolving-nuclear-strategy-will-china-drop-no-first-use/ |website=[[Jamestown Foundation]] |date=12 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250515054935/https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-evolving-nuclear-strategy-will-china-drop-no-first-use/ |archive-date=15 May 2025}}</ref>

=== Structural integrity ===
Immediately after the reservoir was first filled, around 80 hairline cracks were observed in the dam's structure.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=July 22, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722004812/http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Library/Local_Information/Asia/China/Three_Gorges_Dam.html | url=http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Library/Local_Information/Asia/China/Three_Gorges_Dam.html | title=Three Gorges Dam | work=Electronic Data Interchange | publisher=Awesome Library | access-date=June 3, 2009 | last=Adams | first=Jerry | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | archive-date=December 28, 2010 | url=http://www.loe.org/series/3gorges/ | title=Three Gorges Dam | publisher=Living On Earth | access-date=June 3, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228124416/http://www.loe.org/series/3gorges/ | url-status=live}}</ref> Still, an experts group gave the project overall a good-quality rating.<ref>{{cite web | archive-date=August 15, 2009 | url=http://www.aqsiq.gov.cn/zjxw/zjxw/zjftpxw/200907/t20090721_122359.htm | language=zh | script-title=zh:三峡工程质量处于良好受控状态 | publisher=Aqsiq.gov.cn | access-date=August 16, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815044212/http://www.aqsiq.gov.cn/zjxw/zjxw/zjftpxw/200907/t20090721_122359.htm | url-status=live}}</ref> The 163,000 concrete units all passed quality testing, with normal [[Deformation (engineering)|deformation]] within design limits.