Joking aside, the article is just more evidence of the kind of economic momentum China wants to pursue. On one hand, it (the nation) wants to catch up to the West economically. It has the resources to do so and its accumulation of power is accelerating. On the other hand, there are always sacrifices to be made. Old people might say embracing the Western economy brings with it cultural domination: you trade money and power for culture and tradition. Or, in this case, the peasants (which still make up a majority of the Chinese population) get left behind. Officials intentionally look the other way and are even justified, albeit in a Machiavellian way, in taking their lives away from them.

Might the peasants be ok with it? Despite what the NYTimes reports, could these people being displaced see the "greater good" of this project? I doubt it. The preservation of the "Grand Canyon" of the orient is certainly a worthy issue but it smells a little bit overly erudite to me. What about the people? Will the people being displaced really even care about environmental preservation as we see it? I'm all for economic development but sometimes, a country that size just has too much momentum and things, people, and even land get lost in the shuffle.

Then again, my thoughts are far removed from these people as well and who am I to judge?