SCMP.COM
CARY HUANG
December 5, 2015
Public anger has seen Beijing back action to tackle smog, yet local officials continue to collude with business for personal gain
While President Xi Jinping was addressing about 150 leaders at the United Nations climate summit in Paris on Monday, the Chinese capital was enduring the worst air pollution this year.
For several days, Beijing residents were choking under a thick blanket of smog, with the concentration of hazardous particulate matter peaking at about 900 in some parts of the city of 22 million people.
The World Health Organisation recommends average 24-hour exposure to PM2.5 – the finest pollutant particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter that can cause the greatest harm to public health – at 25 or below. But the air quality index hit the 500-mark, the maximum, at all monitoring stations in Beijing.
As social media was filled with pictures of blanketed skylines and criticism of the government’s failure to improve the situation, state media used the global summit to trumpet rising public awareness and government action.
Internet users ridiculed the timing of China’s latest disaster. Some suggested the global climate summit should be held in Beijing rather than in Paris.
Echoing public anger, the party-run Global Times said smog was one of the most hated aspects of pollution among the Chinese people. “This rising [public] awareness will help facilitate the climate agenda,” its English edition said.
China Daily said that “the municipal government cannot shirk its responsibility to do whatever it can to mitigate as much as possible the harm smog may cause to residents’ health”.
Public outrage over air pollution has been a catalyst behind the change of the government’s attitude toward the issue, with China taking an active role in seeking a breakthrough in Paris.
Xi is the first Chinese president to personally attend the UN summit. A compromise by China is essential. As the world’s largest polluter, China is estimated to have released between nine and 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2013, nearly twice as much as the US and about two and a half times the European Union.
China has launched a “war on pollution” after a spate of smog outbreaks in many regions in recent years. But most local governments were reluctant to implement the policy, said environmental officials. Greenpeace China said up to 80 per cent of Chinese cities had failed to meet their own air-quality standards.
Local officials often compromise the environment in favour of economic development, or collude with business for personal gain.
An online real-time map of pollution by Beijing NGO Institute of Public and Environment Affairs showed more than 10 firms discharged excessive emissions on Tuesday, despite the outcry over smog.
Fighting air pollution is not only man versus Mother Nature, but also man versus man – a battle between those who have suffered from the emissions and those who have benefitted.
China’s cities are among the world’s dirtiest as the country – known as the world’s workshop – depends on coal for more than 60 per cent of its power to fuel its industrialisation. Cutting its air pollution will mean dramatically reducing or totally shutting down some coal-fired industrial plants and restrictions on workshops and building sites.
Collusion between business and officials is common, given the lack of transparency in governance, the lack of press freedom and the lack of public oversight of officials.
The Beijing News cited British success in fighting smog as an example China should follow, but failed to say that London and counterparts such as Paris and Los Angeles resolved the issue only after constant protests, widespread media coverage and fierce debate in legislatures.
It shows press freedom, civil liberty, and democracy are also necessary weapons in the war against pollution. People must win these rights before they can win their battle against Mother Nature.
