By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-11-28 07:11

A senior engineer involved with the construction of the Three Gorges project Tuesday called for objective reporting from the international media, saying Chinese people respect sincere criticism.

Pan Jiazheng speaks at a press conference organized by the State Council Information Office in Beijing November 27, 2007. [china.org.cn]

Pan Jiazheng, an 80-year-old research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a leader of the project's quality control panel, said: "Chinese people welcome sincere criticism and supervision, even if it is harsh. But please don't demonize us."

He said selective, "distorted" and exaggerated reporting was not conducive to mutual understanding and friendship with China.

Pan said he resented reports by some sections of the international press that had headlines characterizing the dam as a time bomb and depicting the water in the reservoir as soy sauce.

"It is hard for a person who has devoted most of the latter part of their life to the project to see reports like this," he said.

Pan's words were greeted by applause at the press conference at the State Information Office.

Pan has been responsible for the construction of several hydroelectric power stations around the country and said environmental problems, such as algae outbreaks along tributaries, were neither major disasters or unexpected.

"Don't describe a kitten as a tiger," Pan said.