South China Morning Post
February 16, 2015
It is easy to assume that if no one – be it a high or low official – is beyond the reach of mainland graft-busters, then serial polluters should not present too much of a problem to environmental authorities.
Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. The latter may have the law on their side and, supposedly, the clout of a fully fledged ministry in recent years.
But the mainland is almost as well-known for potentially calamitous degradation of its environment as for the breakneck pace of economic growth responsible for it.
This is because serious air, water and soil pollution has accrued over decades, economic growth still gets higher priority and responsibility for protecting the environment is divided among various government departments.
Not least, local officials of the Ministry for Environmental Protection are paid by, and report to, local authorities, making their mission difficult to carry out.
The ministry therefore needs leadership and bureaucratic skills of exceptional calibre if it is to begin to make headway with concrete strategies to take on polluters. This proved beyond the outgoing environmental protection minister, Zhou Shengxian , a former regional official in Ningxia province whose only relevant previous experience was as head of the State Forestry Administration.
In fairness, his background did little to equip him for the top job. His departure has opened the door for Beijing to make amends. Mainland media has made much of the credentials of his chosen successor, Tsinghua University president and environmental scientist Chen Jining , a radical education reformer who earned a doctorate in environmental studies from Imperial College, London and has had regular policy input into the ministry.
It remains to be seen if his expertise can make up for relative bureaucratic inexperience.
That said, given the history of environmental neglect, and pressure arising from a slowing economy, it would be almost impossible for any minister to stop further environmental degradation in just a few years. But there is room to get things moving in the right direction with clearer strategies to implement the ministry’s mission, and more active enforcement.
After all, it has the power to go after polluters and complicit officials and bring them to justice. Chen will have to learn on the job how to handle interdepartmental turf wars and lobbying by industries. He should take up the suggestion of a ministry insider to build more public support by allowing civic environmental groups to play a bigger role.
