BEIJING (AFP) – Public anger in China at dangerous levels of air
pollution, which blanketed Beijing in acrid smog, spread Monday as state
media queried official transparency and the nation’s breakneck
development.
The media joined Internet users in calling for a re-evaluation of
China’s modernisation process, which has seen rapid urbanisation and
dramatic economic development at the expense of the environment.
Dense smog shrouded large swathes of northern China at the weekend,
cutting visibility to 100 metres (yards) in some areas and forcing
flight cancellations. Reports said dozens of building sites and a car
factory in the capital halted work as an anti-pollution measure.
Doctors at two of the city’s major hospitals said the number of
patients with respiratory problems had increased sharply in the past few
days, state media reported.
“Now it has been dark with pollution for three days, at least people
are starting to realise how important the environment is,” said one
posting on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo.
At the height of the smog Beijing authorities said readings for PM2.5
— particles small enough deeply to penetrate the lungs — hit 993
micrograms per cubic metre, almost 40 times the World Health
Organisation’s safe limit.
Experts quoted by state media blamed low winds, saying fog had mixed
with pollutants from vehicles and factories and had been trapped by
mountains north and west of Beijing. Coal burning in winter was also a
factor, they added.
In an editorial Monday the state-run Global Times called for more
transparent figures on pollution and urged the government to change its
“previous method of covering up the problems and instead publish the
facts”.
Officials in China have a long history of covering up environmental and other problems.
Earlier this month a chemical spill into a river was only publicly
disclosed five days after it happened, and authorities were widely
criticised for initially denying the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) outbreak in 2003.
“The choice between development and environmental protection should
be made by genuinely democratic methods,” the Global Times said.
“Environmental problems shouldn’t be mixed together with political
problems.”
Official PM2.5 statistics have only been released for China’s biggest
conurbations since the beginning of last year, and expanded to cover 74
cities earlier this month.
The paper ran a story on differences between air quality index (AQI)
figures given by Chinese authorities and by the US embassy in Beijing —
which are correlated with but not directly equivalent to pollutant
concentrations.
The tightly-controlled media has previously raised concerns over
health problems linked to industrialisation. Observers say the
statistics’ increasing availability has forced them to confront the
issue more directly.
The Xinhua state news agency criticised the “pollutant belt” that had
spread across the country and warned that the authorities’ stated goal
of building a “beautiful China” was in jeopardy.
“A country with a brown sky and hazardous air is obviously not beautiful,” it said.
“The environmental situation facing the country will be increasingly
challenging,” it said. “There is no reason to be too optimistic.”
Smog levels eased in the capital Monday, with the national monitoring
centre putting the PM2.5 AQI figure at 183, or “light pollution”, in
the evening — although the US embassy gave it a “hazardous” 335.
Levels remained high in many parts of China, with PM 2.5 AQI standing
at 405 in Zhengzhou south of Beijing and 342 in Xian to the southwest.
Share prices of environment-related companies surged, with face mask
producer Shanghai Dragon soaring by its 10 percent daily limit.
The smog dominated discussion on Sina Weibo. “This pollution is
making me so angry,” said one user, posting a picture of herself wearing
a face mask.
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