In the news dated June 28, 2025, the construction of the Menghe Shuangduo Reservoir has caused controversy as the construction party proceeded with construction and sand mining without reaching a compensation agreement, leading to the cutting down of peach trees belonging to villagers. Prominent human rights activist Chen Guangcheng believes that the Menghe River is nearly dried up, and the construction of the reservoir by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is purely exploiting the people, with local governments taking advantage of the situation to profit.
Villager Chen Hua from Dongshigu Village, Shuangduo Town, Yinan County, Linyi City, Shandong Province, recently told reporters that in June of this year, without his knowledge, all the peach trees in his family were cut down. “The peach trees, which were five to six years old, were in full fruiting season with fruits averaging about seven to eight centimeters in diameter.” Other villagers also reported their poplar trees being destroyed.
The issue dates back to two years ago. In October 2022, the feasibility study report for the Menghe Shuangduo Reservoir project was approved by the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, with a total storage capacity of 138 million cubic meters and approved total investment of 12.3 billion yuan. The reservoir officially started construction on November 29.
Previously reported by the media, due to the provincial government’s plan to build the Shuangduo Reservoir, farmland in Dongshigu Village was expropriated. Trees planted by farmers on the riverbank were cut down, leading to deforestation of over a thousand acres. The villagers disagreed, deeming the compensation unreasonable. To prevent the developers from extracting sand from the river, villagers organized themselves and took shifts to guard the area. In October last year, officials from the county and township, along with over thirty thugs, violently dispersed the villagers standing guard at the site.
“We had leased the wasteland for 30 years, cultivated it for 17 years, with 13 years left in the lease. The compensation amount for the land, over ten million yuan, was paid to the village collective account, but the villagers didn’t receive any money. They forcefully proceeded with construction, took away the river sand, and fenced off the woodland with wire mesh,” Chen Hua said.
Since last year, the Linyi Water Conservancy Group set up a river sand sales department on-site, with four sand dredgers extracting sand from the river. Trucks continuously transported sand out around the clock. This year, excavators started digging sand from the riverbank, loading it onto construction vehicles for direct removal.
“They forcefully extracted sand without compensation. The village secretary can represent the whole village and signed to transfer the funds to the collective, but the villagers didn’t receive a single penny. How can this be acceptable?” After learning about the peach trees being cut, Chen Hua immediately reported it to the police. However, the local police station delayed responding and took over an hour to arrive at the scene, and there has been no feedback to date.
“They are just bandits, robbers,” Chen Hua exclaimed angrily.
Renowned human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng, who hails from Dongshigu Village, explained to reporters that the Shuangduo Reservoir is approximately 8 kilometers away from the village. The excavation for the reservoir was sold as a source of income after clearing the land for water storage. Originally, the sand dredged was from the riverbed, but now they continue digging sand from beyond the forested area onto the arable land. This land belongs to the villagers, and according to Chinese law, construction should not proceed without signed agreements.
According to CCP’s official media Xinhua News Agency, in the first quarter, the investment in the Menghe Shuangduo Reservoir project amounted to 6.8 billion yuan, with the main project progress reaching 60%. The reservoir is designed to store 140 million cubic meters of water, with a total investment of about 12.3 billion yuan. It is a significant water conservancy project in the Huai River basin comprehensive plan and, once completed, will “effectively alleviate flood pressure on the main stream of the Yi River and urban areas of Linyi City.”
Chen Guangcheng believes that from the outset, this reservoir project was for profiteering sake. He pointed out that for 10 months of the year, the Menghe River is dry, with water only present during the flood period in July and August. This starkly contrasts with the abundant water flow experienced in the past. During the dry season, the river becomes a dumping ground, and a big flood in July may temporarily alleviate some pollution.
“In such an environment, to construct a reservoir, it’s hard to believe it is solely for flood prevention or water preservation downstream. Driven by profits, they proceed to destroy all the arable land of the villagers. This ultimately harms the people and serves no purpose,” Chen Guangcheng criticized.
Chen Hua further disclosed to reporters that during this year’s severe drought, locals faced challenges irrigating their crops, having to pump water from several kilometers away. The anti-drought water conservancy projects funded by the government in the past, costing millions, were poorly constructed and remain unused by the people.
“The electricity, water, pump houses, everything was completed, accepted, but rendered unusable. The water pumping location was set in the middle of the Menghe River. I opposed it, suggesting either constructing a well or diverting the water. To build a reservoir in the middle of the river where a flood could destroy it without using cement but just stone ‘dry stack construction,’ is this not deceiving people?” Chen Hua expressed.
Chen Hua stated that local officials are corrupt, colluding with businesses to pocket the money while the projects meant for the people’s benefit are non-functional. Three nearby villages have the same situation where water facilities built have been washed away by floods within three years of construction.
Labeling the entire Communist Party as a gang of criminals, Chen Guangcheng stressed that the people cannot rely on them. “Putting on a police uniform makes them robbers, changing into a suit turns them into leaders inspecting the work.”
For years, grassroots levels of the CCP have been associated with being entangled in criminal activities. Chen Guangcheng believes this is a cascading effect and not due to the detachment of authority figures. People petition to the provincial government, then to the central government, back to the province, but it serves no real purpose in the Communist system, where reason doesn’t hold.
Regarding the “Special Campaign to Combat Crime and Eliminate Evil” targeting corruption at the grassroots which began in 2018, Chen Guangcheng believes that when Xi Jinping first came to power, there was a perception of him combating corruption at least until 2015. Many people kept reporting issues to the authorities, but eventually found that all their concerns were ignored. Nowadays, hardly anyone has a positive outlook on him. The anti-corruption efforts are deemed deceitful.
“In rural areas, corruption has become so rampant that they don’t lack criminals to prosecute, catching anyone will do, and as long as the Communist Party is apprehended, everything is resolved. This is the current situation,” he concluded.