The Chinese Communist Party is again burying history to make a profit and hide its inhumane deeds. How else can one describe its plan to build a dam submerging 27 villages—including my own—without a demonstrated need for such a large-scale public-works structure?

Some time ago, people in my hometown, Dongshigu, reported they’d heard that the government was considering building a massive reservoir nearby. The details were unclear, but surveyors soon began staking out land. No one knew what was coming or when.