The official, An Qiyuan, from Shaanxi province, told the UK's Financial Times newspaper that people in north-western provinces should be compensated.
He warned of social upheaval and environmental harm because of the strain put on local water supplies.
China is building a huge network to divert water to the north.
The project will divert water from rivers in the south via tunnels, dams and canals to cities in the north where consumption is at an all-time high.
Part of the massive project was brought forward to provide water for the Olympics in the summer.
Mr An, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee in Shaanxi, said the diversion of water supplies would have a severe effect.
Factories closed
"In order to preserve the quality of Beijing's water we have to close all our factories," he said.
"But we still need to live. So I say the government needs to compensate Shaanxi."
Mr An, formerly Communist Party chief in Shaanxi, was also critical of the huge Sanmexia Dam, constructed in the 1950s.
The project is blamed for the Yellow River silting up and causing flooding - something it was meant to avoid.
"It was so stupid, stupid," said Mr An.
Correspondents say it is unusual for a leading communist official to be so openly critical of government policy.
National network
Shaanxi and Hebei province are being required to pump clean water to Beijing in time for the Olympics.
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They are on the northern stretch of a much larger water transfer project designed to bring supplies from the Yangtze River in the south to thirsty northern industrial areas, including Beijing.
The entire project, costing tens of billions of dollars, is due for completion by 2010, but the authorities in the capital are hoping the northern leg of the network will be ready in time for the Olympics.
Experts say water demand could rise to 30% above average in the city as thousands of visitors arrive for the games.
Hebei
Hebei province, which lies next to Beijing and supplies most of its water, is suffering from severe drought, the official Hebei Daily reported on Tuesday.
Officials in the province were quoted as saying the drought, caused by a lack of rain and snow, meant the "conflict between water supply and demand has been dramatically exacerbated".
Hebei province is being asked to provide an extra 300m cubic metres of back-up supplies to Beijing's 16 million residents as the Games approach.
Several hundred kilometres of pipe and channels are being constructed in the province to supply the capital. But farmers complain that lack of water is already severely undermining agricultural land.
The Hebei Daily reported that 33,000 sq km (12,740 sq miles) of farmland was now affected by drought, while a quarter of a million residents were facing problems with drinking water.
Under the technique, software sent in an email enables the authorities to spy on a suspect's computer hard drive.
The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe said cyber spying violated individuals' right to privacy and could be used only in exceptional cases.
Civil liberties activists have warned of an unacceptable invasion of privacy.
National precedent
The case - which began last year - was brought after the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia allowed officials to begin using the technique.
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Court President Hans-Juergen Papier said that using such software contravened rights enshrined in Germany's constitution, adding that the decision would serve as a precedent across the country.
The ruling emphasised that cyber spying by the authorities would have to receive the permission of a judge.
The German government has described cyber spying as a vital tool in fighting terrorism.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble welcomed the possibility of using the strategy and said it would be considered as part of plans to change the law.
"The court's decision must be carefully analysed and will be accounted for as the legislation is modified," he said.
Terror plots
Judicial approval is already required in Germany for a suspect's telephone to be tapped, and the interior ministry had been expecting the court to make a similar requirement for spying on computers.
During the case, Germany's independent privacy commissioner Peter Schaar argued that the measure would be a "further alarming step towards ever more sweeping surveillance".
Germany has uncovered a number of alleged terrorist plots in recent years.
In September 2007, the authorities arrested three men whom they claimed were planning bomb attacks around the country and belonged to militant Islamist group al-Qaeda.
Speaking after a meeting in Iraq's capital Baghdad, Ahmet Davutoglu said they would continue "until terrorist bases are eliminated".
But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the action was unacceptable and violated Iraq's sovereignty.
The US says it wants the offensive to end as soon as possible.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is visiting Ankara and says he has already raised concerns at the highest levels.
Casualty figures
But Mr Davutoglu, chief foreign policy adviser of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters: "Our objective is clear. Our mission is clear and there is no timetable... until the terrorist bases are eliminated."
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Mr Zebari, speaking at the news conference with Mr Davutoglu after the talks, said Iraq wanted an immediate withdrawal.
"We condemn the terrorists and the PKK, but we also condemn the violations of the sovereignty of Iraq at the same time and we have to be very clear on that," he said.
Mr Zebari, himself a Kurd, added that the Kurdish regional government had expressed willingness to work with Turkey "to eliminate the threat from the PKK".
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The Turkish military has been attacking bases of PKK rebels, who want a homeland in south-east Turkey.
Following the latest clashes, the military said 77 rebels and five of its soldiers had been killed. It says 230 rebels and 24 soldiers have been killed since the offensive was launched on Thursday.
The PKK rebels say they have killed at least 81 Turkish soldiers. Neither report can be independently verified.
Intelligence help
Speaking to the BBC in Delhi before leaving for Turkey, Mr Gates said the Turkish military operation against PKK bases should be very short and very precisely targeted.
Then, he added, the Turks should withdraw back across the border.
"They cannot solve the PKK terrorist problem which is a very real one from the Turks' standpoint," he said.
"A lot of innocent Turks have been killed by these terrorists. But they can't solve that problem entirely by military means and they need to begin thinking about what they're going to do in the non-military arena."
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He said the US had provided additional intelligence and reconnaissance help to Turkey, but would also be ready to offer non-military solutions to the problem.
More than 30,000 people have been killed since the PKK began their campaign in 1984.
Ankara says as many as 3,000 PKK members use northern Iraq as a safe haven.
The US, the EU and Turkey consider the PKK to be a terrorist organisation.
Habiba Garba told the BBC she wanted people to see the reality of violence against women in northern Nigeria.
But Kano State authorities say they have received complaints the picture breaks Muslim rules about nudity.
Labaran Abdu Madari, who beat Mrs Garba in front of witnesses and police last week, is in jail and yet to be charged.
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Kano is one of 12 mainly Muslim northern states to have implemented Sharia law since Nigeria's return to civil rule in 1999.
The BBC's Mustafa Muhammad in Kano says the state-owned Triumph newspaper, which published the picture showing Mrs Garba's injuries, has a very small circulation and few people in Kano have heard about the incident.
But he says the editor of the paper may come under some pressure from government to resign for publishing it.
Hate campaign
"I want to show the people of the world what that man did to me," she told the BBC from her hospital bed in Kano city on Wednesday.
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Mrs Garba, a women's leader in the opposition All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), alleged Mr Madari, a Kano State lawmaker for the ruling People's Democratic Party, mounted a campaign of harassment against her.
She said that he paid youths to follow and heckle her after she switched political parties from the PDP.
They called her a "prostitute" and physically threatened her, she said.
Last week, she went to the police, who arrested one of the youths.
The politician heard about the arrest and came down to the police station where eyewitnesses told the BBC that he savagely beat Mrs Garba.
Mr Madari was arrested. He has not been granted bail and will appear in court to be charged early next month.
Privacy
On Monday, the Triumph published the picture of Mrs Garba's injuries showing the area just under her armpit and the scars on her torso.
"A women's rights group came to the government to complain that her rights had been infringed by the publication," said Sule Yau Sule, spokesman for the state government.
The picture shows part of her naked torso, and as publishing nudity is forbidden under Sharia law it violates rights to privacy.
The government says it will investigate whether her consent was sought by the paper.
"If her rights have not been infringed we will drop it," Mr Sule said.
Mrs Garba had to have a blood clot removed from her abdomen, the Triumph reported.
"This attack is barbaric, animalistic," the paper quoted ANPP secretary Alhaji Rabi'u Bako as saying.
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The Chinese special envoy for Darfur has arrived in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for a five-day visit.
The visit of Liu Guijin comes amid mounting pressure on Beijing to use its influence on the Sudanese government to end the conflict in the western region. Mr Liu will travel to Darfur on Tuesday, the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict which has left 200,000 people dead and 2.5m homeless. Correspondents say China wants to show it is playing a positive role in Sudan. It has long had strong trade and military links with Khartoum, which is accused of backing militias that have raped and murdered civilians in Darfur. Mr Liu's visit was announced just days after film director Steven Spielberg pulled out as artistic adviser to the Beijing Olympics, saying China was not doing enough to end the humanitarian crisis in the troubled Sudanese region. Mr Spielberg said his conscience would not allow him to continue in the role. 'Open role' Speaking on arrival at Khartoum's airport on Sunday morning, Mr Liu said that during his visit he would discuss with the Sudanese President Omar Bashir and his government a permanent solution to the problems in Darfur.
"What China is pursuing is to realise peace in Darfur as soon as possible, and to help Sudan achieve stability and development as soon as possible," he told the Xinhua news agency. "China's devotion to solving the Darfur issue is for the sake of peace, rather than for expediency," he added. Mr Liu said China would play an open role in helping to solve the conflict and would support any proposal or measure that would be conducive to a settlement. The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Khartoum says Beijing is keen to show it is playing a positive role in the region - this week it will provide $11m (£5.6m) of humanitarian assistance. Arms supply Activists have accused China of helping to arm pro-Khartoum militia against Darfur's rebel groups, but Mr Liu told the BBC on Friday that only 8% of weapons imported by Sudan came from China in 2006 and insisted it was not fuelling the conflict.
"There are seven countries selling arms to Sudan. So even if China stopped its sale, it still won't solve the problem of arms in Sudan," he said. Mr Liu also said he would advise Sudan to co-operate on the deployment of the new UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur. The UN mission to Darfur, Unamid, began deploying in January but the force still lacks most of the 26,000 personnel planned for the mission. He said that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China had been asked to help find a long-term solution to the Darfur issue, but that it had done so with respect for Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity. |
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