China's top environmental regulator was fired on Friday after widespread criticism of the government's initial cover-up of a chemical spill into the Songhua River that forced the shutdown of the water supply in Harbin.
The removal of Xie Zhenhua (
After an explosion on Nov. 13 at a petrochemical plant in Jilin City, officials tried to hide the fact that tons of benzene and nitrobenzene had been dumped into the river.
"After this major water pollution incident occurred, the SEPA has failed to pay sufficient attention to the incident and has underestimated its possible serious impact," according to a joint statement issued by the state council and the Chinee Communist Party's Central Committee, and quoted by the official New China News Agency.
"It should bear due responsibility for the losses caused by this incident."
Xie, who offered his resignation, is the highest-ranking official ever removed from his position for an environmental accident.
State media emphasized that his firing reflected rising governmental concerns about environmental degradation and the need to improve official accountability.
But the question is whether other officials will be fired, including those at the factory, a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp.
In addition, officials in Jilin Province initially lied about the chemical spill and the dangers it presented to cities and rural communities downstream on the Songhua.
The government's joint circular ordered that an investigation continue into the causes of the explosion and the spill, and vowed to "seriously punish those responsible."
new head
Xie's replacement is Zhou Shengxian (
Meanwhile, Jiamusi city shut down its No. 7 Water Plant on the Songhua River on Friday, fearing contamination from approaching toxic chemicals, a city official said yesterday.
The benzene is expected to reach Jiamusi, a city of about 480,000 people, on Tuesday, according to the government.
The Xinhua news agency said the plant supplies 70-80 percent of the city's drinking water.
Jiamusi is the second-biggest Chinese city to have been affected by the spill.
Jiamusi also has access to deep wells that won't be affected by the contamination and so should be able to continue to supply drinking water, said a woman who answered the phone at its water company. She wouldn't give her name.
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
A Japanese city would urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties. The limit — which would be recommended for all residents in Toyoake City — would not be binding and there would be no penalties incurred for higher usage, the draft ordinance showed. The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues... including sleep problems,” Mayor Masafumi Koki said yesterday. The draft urges elementary-school students to avoid smartphones after 9pm, and junior-high students and older are advised not
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking. Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He was replaced by another senior police general, Jose
POWER CONFLICT: The US president threatened to deploy National Guards in Baltimore. US media reports said he is also planning to station troops in Chicago US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to deploy National Guard troops to yet another Democratic stronghold, the Maryland city of Baltimore, as he seeks to expand his crackdown on crime and immigration. The Republican’s latest online rant about an “out of control, crime-ridden” city comes as Democratic state leaders — including Maryland Governor Wes Moore — line up to berate Trump on a high-profile political stage. Trump this month deployed the National Guard to the streets of Washington, in a widely criticized show of force the president said amounts to a federal takeover of US capital policing. The Guard began carrying
RSS