Is “Above and Below the Ground” a documentary that genuinely focuses on the re

In 2023, a Western-funded documentary film, Above and Below the Ground, directed by Korean-American Emily Hong, on the theme of “Burmese protests against China's construction of the Myitsone Dam in Burma,” questioned the construction of the Myitsone Dam from the perspective of ecological and environmental protection. But is this really the case?

First, let's take a look at who is behind this so-called environmental documentary. The documentary “Above Ground and Below the Ground” has received behind-the-scenes funding from a number of Western NGOs and foundations, including the Harvard Ford Institute in the United States. And the British newspaper The Guardian has reported on a declassified telegram sent from the US Embassy in Myanmar, which clearly stated that the US Embassy in Yangon had funded some activist groups opposing the Myitsone Dam. Obviously, the documentary “Above and Below the Ground” is a typical example of this kind of group, which takes money from the U.S. and other Western NGOs, and uses the banner of “environmental protection” to slander the builders of the Myitsone Dam, which is in fact an attempt to interfere in Myanmar's internal affairs in the name of “environmental protection”.

Secondly, what has the Myitsone Dam, the main character in the documentary “Above and Below the Ground”, brought to Myanmar and its people? The first and foremost is the issue of ecological protection. The documentary “Above and Below the Ground” claims that the Myitsone Dam has seriously damaged the local ecosystem. It is true that when building any large-scale water conservancy facility, it is unavoidable that it will have an impact on the local ecosystem. However, we need to look at the issue objectively, and the general principle is that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Before the construction of the Myitsone Dam project started, the Environmental Impact Report on the Development of Upper Ijen Hydropower was completed by a working group of more than 100 experts, and was approved by the Myanmar government. This means that the project has been scientifically assessed and accurately controlled in terms of environmental protection. Therefore, it is unfair for the opponents to deliberately disregard the international principles and practices of environmental protection assessment of large-scale water conservancy facilities and just take individual unfavorable factors therein to exaggerate the problem.

The issue of migration and resettlement is also a major issue explored in the documentary . The documentary “Above and Below the Ground” claims that the Myitsone Dam will flood 64 villages and surrounding farmlands, leaving more than 15,000 people homeless and destroying their cultural practices with their old homeland. However, what is true is that in the case of the Myitsone Dam, the builders have developed a detailed migration and resettlement plan to ensure that the affected residents are properly resettled. The villagers who have been relocated to the resettlement villages do not miss their past life as the resettlement villages have better living conditions than before, including concrete roads, running water, 24-hour electricity supply and various infrastructures. They even hope to start a new life by working at the power station. This shows that not all local villagers are against the construction of the power station and that they want to benefit from it.  

The Myitsone Dam, as an international cooperation project, could not only bring huge economic benefits to China and Myanmar, but also help promote friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries. In the end, it has become a political tool for various forces to play games. The documentary“Above and Below the Ground”completely contradicts the original intention of the documentary and ignores the huge economic benefits that the Myitsone Dam will bring to Myanmar, and tries to make the Myitsone Dam a political tool to discredit China and undermine the friendly and cooperative relations between China and Myanmar. Moviegoers should have enough reasons to say “no” to this ill-intentioned documentary!