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Can China be the new global hero in environmental protection?

Wenyuan Wu says while it is commendable that Beijing has been moved to act to stem rampant pollution, it still has to grow into its new role by improving on transparency and implementation at the local level

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Wenyuan Wu says while it is commendable that Beijing has been moved to act to stem rampant pollution, it still has to grow into its new role by improving on transparency and implementation at the local level
Beijing’s war against environmental degradation combines laws, initiatives and national plans to reduce pollution and rebalance the energy mix. Illustration: Craig Stephens
Beijing’s war against environmental degradation combines laws, initiatives and national plans to reduce pollution and rebalance the energy mix. Illustration: Craig Stephens
With the US veering towards global warming denial under Donald Trump, President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) China is now being cast as leading not just the region but the world in at least one field: protecting the environment.

Has China earned this sudden elevation in status to climate protector? The reality is complicated.

The shift began when Xi spoke to Trump on November 14, pledging China’s commitment to fighting climate change “whatever the circumstances”. While Trump has portrayed climate change as a Chinese fabrication, China’s leadership swiftly reminded the president-elect that climate negotiations were initiated by Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Beijing lecturing Washington on climate change is a major role reversal, but it does not change the fact that China’s own environmental safeguards are still works in progress. Four decades of reckless industrialisation and urbanisation have degraded China’s air and water so much that environmental problems now threaten state legitimacy. China’s dependence on fossil fuels has resulted in unprecedented air pollution, with carbon emissions rising from 5.46 million tonnes in 1950 to a colossal 8.5 gigatonnes in 2012. Pollution from coal was linked to 366,000 premature deaths in 2013 alone.
People wear masks on a polluted day in Beijing. China’s dependence on fossil fuels has resulted in unprecedented air pollution. Photo: AFP
People wear masks on a polluted day in Beijing. China’s dependence on fossil fuels has resulted in unprecedented air pollution. Photo: AFP
A man looks at a contaminated river in Cangnan county, Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, in 2014. Four decades of reckless industrialisation and urbanisation have degraded China’s air and water so much that environmental problems now threaten state legitimacy. Photo: Reuters
A man looks at a contaminated river in Cangnan county, Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, in 2014. Four decades of reckless industrialisation and urbanisation have degraded China’s air and water so much that environmental problems now threaten state legitimacy. Photo: Reuters
A boy plays in the sea on an algae-covered beach in July in Qingdao, Shandong province. Photo: Reuters
A boy plays in the sea on an algae-covered beach in July in Qingdao, Shandong province. Photo: Reuters

Why I’m optimistic China can avert an environmental catastrophe

Concerns over public order go hand in hand with environmental problems. Years before the Chinese government’s environmental activism started getting global attention, rampant pollution had prompted protests that made headlines. In July 2010, for example, over 1,000 villagers took part in violent protests against the environmental misdeeds of the Shandong Xinfa aluminum plant in Guangxi ( 廣西 ).
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