The latest news from Copenhagen concerns ocean acidification as a result of carbon dioxide absorption, with scientists warning of its effect on marine life, coral and fish, on which a billion people depend as their principal source of protein. Less carbon dioxide, then? “Only if the rich nations give us money,” African states say, and withdraw from further negotiations. Is saving the world really all about money?
“Fire dragons all over — Armageddon has arrived,” someone from the 12th century Song Dynasty, arriving in a time machine in 21st century China, might cry at the sight of his home shrouded in smoke and haze. How might he understand the poisoned water, soil and air?
Seeing the resurrected 3rd century BC terracotta warriors of Shaanxi Province wearing face masks to protect them from greenhouse and other toxic gases, he learns about Earth’s polluted environment, which has been dramatically documented by award-winning photographer Lu Guang (盧廣), whose work documents humankind’s deadly impact on the planet.
The lower Yangtze River, for example, and its delta region — like the Pearl River delta — have been polluted beyond remedy. Ma’anshan, the biggest industrial site in China’s Anhui Province, profiting from 70,000 steel mills and chemical plants, sends yet another flood of toxic cocktails into the air and the river. The Yangtze has become the world’s biggest and most hazardous sewer, where city and industrial waste, fine-tuned with the remainders of titanium processing, ammonium carbonate and methyl pyridine pesticide, accumulates over a stretch of 3,000km.
A large number of chemical industrial parks are concentrated in Jiangsu Province. One of the parks has more than 100 chemical plants at a single coastal site, their wastewaters discharging unregulated into the East China Sea.
There are smog-poisoned cities all over China. Just look at the Shizuishan industrial district in Ningxia Province, or further down the Yellow River around Wuhai in Inner Mongolia, where Soviet-style coal power plants cover nearby villages with thick black clouds. Our friend from the age when gunpowder was invented would demonize them as “black dragons” haunting the sensitive semi-arid land of steppes and scarce cultivation, as well as the agricultural land of Shanxi, Hebei and other areas where population and industries have become concentrated.
The noble task facing the world’s leadership would therefore be tackling the total sum of environmental sins, which do not end with China and do not disappear with time. How much is still remembered of the worst ever industrial atrocity that occurred in Bhopal, India? Under similar conditions, similar atrocities could happen again elsewhere at any time.
Union Carbide has probably shied away from this summit, but even after 15 years, the man-made human and environmental disaster of Bhopal cannot be forgotten. The chemical reaction that happened in 1984 in a neglected pesticide factory in the capital of Madhya Pradesh state released 40 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanide and other toxins into the air, killing 25,000 people and leaving 500,000 physically and genetically hurt.
The UN summit in Denmark’s capital this month is the biggest environmental show ever seen, calling 15,000 delegates and 100 world leaders from 192 countries to the discussion table. But while the world is being suffocated by trash and toxic chemicals, the negotiators are discussing only certain specific pollutants, namely greenhouse gas emissions. Adamantly targeting greenhouse gases, the summit concentrates on new businesses in times of declining industries and economic strain. Rich countries hope to survive with new technologies and products, while poorer countries tend to preserve their traditional role as beggars, hanging on to outdated technologies passed down from developed nations.
The climate summit is limited to pursuing massively reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. But how can this target be met by means of a legally binding treaty between rich and poor countries if the model for environmental degradation has been set by the world’s leading nation and is being blindly copied by the world’s most populous nation?
Mankind has for years been adversely influencing the climate and weather. In 1950, there were an estimated 53 million cars, a number that is expected to exceed 1 billion next year.
On the other hand, the climate has always been changing in long-term cycles, which have created and terminated several ice ages for hundreds of millions of years. Thus, we may be headed for warmer or colder times. Nonetheless, short-term observations have shown that, under the influence of greenhouse gases, global temperatures are unlikely to rise by less than 2°C within the next 10 years. The US therefore wants to cut emissions by 17 percent, while the EU proposes cuts of between 20 and 25 percent. China would require reductions of 40 to 45 percent. How can change be brought about while new technologies and businesses — including renewable energy sources such as wind, water, photovoltaic, solar, thermal and geothermal power and biofuels — have all been proved to be immature, uneconomic or even detrimental and unethical?
As probably none of the world leaders has arrived in Copenhagen without one of the “fire dragons” that fuel global climate change, we might remain unconvinced that they are serious about combating rising greenhouse gas emissions.
Present global problems need to be seen in a broader frame. Not only should deforestation be banned worldwide, but also the comprehensive, wanton destruction of our environment. Can this be stopped by treaties that are feared might affect “economic growth” in the very nations that are probably doing the most harm to our planet, or by a new world leadership?
Engelbert Altenburger is an associate professor at I-Shou University in Kaohsiung.
Taiwan will once again be forced to compete in the Olympics this summer under a nonsensical moniker that neither refers to any political reality nor the identity of its team. Rather, Taiwan competes under “Chinese Taipei,” a Chinese construction imposed on Taiwanese without consultation. “Chinese Taipei” is the sole Olympic team not reflecting the name used by its own people. Even territories such as Puerto Rico, Hong Kong and the Virgin Islands are allowed to use their own names and flags. Other partially recognized states such as Israel, Kosovo and Palestine compete as themselves. “Chinese Taipei” includes athletes from Kaohsiung, Tainan,
“You are Taiwanese? Do you speak Taiwanese then?” Growing up in Buenos Aires, my school memories were filled with Spanish, a language that dances off the tongue with the same rhythm and elegance as the tango. However, in my house, a different melody would play — one that alluded to my roots, an artisanal, homemade combination of Taiwanese Hokkien and Mandarin. Although it was a beautiful sound, it was not a tempo I could follow. Put simply, the Taiwanese language was too hard for me to grasp. Eventually, my parents gave into my requests and abandoned that unique fusion of Chinese and
On April 24, US President Joe Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. The law, which was overwhelmingly approved by the US Congress, requires the popular video-sharing app TikTok to divest from its parent company, China-based ByteDance, or face a ban in the US. The legislation highlights a dilemma faced by democratic countries, including Taiwan, that pits free speech against national security interests. The US ultimatum is meant to address national security concerns that, according to China’s National Security Law and National Intelligence Law, obligates Chinese individuals and organizations to support national intelligence work, allowing the
Though events in the Taiwan Strait seem to have quieted down a bit lately, the tension has not really dissipated. Emperor for Life Xi Jinping (習近平) regularly repeats his claim that retaking Taiwan is to be the crown jewel of his term in power, adding that this little bit of business cannot be put off indefinitely. Beijing has shown little interest in lowering tensions, though it has not been precise on the actual timing. Under US President Joe Biden, the word from the White house has been that America would not sit idly by should China attack or threaten the island