More than 1,500 people have contacted China’s environment ministry to urge changes in the way it monitors pollution, amid accusations that authorities are underplaying the problem.
The ministry said last month it was planning to amend the way it measures air quality to include the smaller particles that experts say pose the greatest health risk, inviting the public to comment on the proposal.
Public anger over heavy pollution in China has been compounded by official data saying air quality is good, or only slightly polluted, when smog is visible and figures published by the US embassy rank it as “very unhealthy.”
Chinese authorities currently use a method known as PM10, focusing on larger particles in the air.
However, the government has proposed adopting the system favored by the US embassy, which measures the smallest and most dangerous airborne pollution, known as PM2.5.
The environment ministry also said it was proposing to include ozone readings and “set tighter rules for some pollutants already monitored, such as PM10 and nitrogen oxide.”
A statement on the ministry’s Web site dated Tuesday said it received more than 1,500 submissions in the 21-day consultation period that ended on Monday.
“The suggestions generally favored the proposal that the revised Ambient Air Quality Standards should include PM2.5,” it said.
The ministry set Jan. 1, 2016 as the proposed date it would implement the change, but the official China Daily said yesterday that many of the messages the ministry received called for faster action.
The China Daily has said that if the PM2.5 standard was adopted nationwide, only 20 percent of Chinese cities would be rated as having satisfactory air quality, against the current 80 percent.
Yesterday the paper urged the government to respond to public pressure, which comes in the same week that thick smog in Beijing forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights at the world’s second-busiest airport.
“Simply sticking our heads in the sand so we can’t see the sky won’t make the problem disappear. The government needs to be brave enough to face up to the problem,” the paper said in an editorial.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese