That China’s ecosystems are in peril is not breaking news, but the speed of deterioration and the slow pace of attempts at recovery and clean up can shock even watchdogs monitoring the toll of the country’s economic boom. That’s where Taiwan comes in, a British reporter said.
In his new book When a Billion Chinese Jump, Jonathan Watts, Asia environment correspondent for the Guardian newspaper, takes readers deep into China’s environmental abyss. The industrial giant’s sprint up the economic ladder is being made at the expense not only of its ecosystems and climate, but also of the health of its citizens — the very workforce China so desperately needs to power its annual double-digit growth.
‘CANCER VILLAGES’
Photo: CNA
Regarding the phenomenon of so-called “cancer villages,” with about 100 to 400 spread throughout China, Watts said the disproportional rates of disease among the residents were most likely caused by toxic-waste discharges from nearby chemical factories.
“The fear of a Red China is outdated, but the hope of a green China is premature,” the investigative journalist, who has been based in China for the last seven years, said at a lecture in Taipei on Thursday last week.
“If there is any color to describe China now, it would be gray,” he said.
While China’s industrial explosion has been the envy of many other countries, it is teetering on the edge of both environmental and social implosions, Watts said, giving examples of disappearing species and riotous protests from angry villagers.
Being a late bloomer in terms of its economic development, China is deprived of the option of “outsourcing” its waste as was enjoyed by the UK, the US, Japan and other countries in their takeoff phases. Beijing is therefore forced to “in-source” its garbage, he said.
The bite marks resulting from China eating itself from the inside-out could be best illustrated by the wrong hues seen around the country, Watts said, citing examples of once-green paddy fields that are now yellow, blue rivers that have turned crimson and crystal white glaciers that used to be feared and revered, but are now brown and balding.
Pollution-induced human suffering is another bleak picture in China, Watts said.
In the coal town of Linfen, Shanxi Province, visited by Watts during the research for his book, the birth-defect rate is more than three times the global average, and the death rate of local miners per tonne of coal extracted is 30 times higher than that of their US counterparts.
However, while China’s eco-crisis might be more devastating than most people realize, Beijing’s determination to go green is also much greater than the outside world gives it credit for, he said.
As evidence, he said the Chinese government invested US$34 billion in clean technology last year, a figure that compared favorably with the US$18 billion spent by Washington.
China also has the world’s largest wind-power capacity, and its solar-panel industry is expanding rapidly, he said.
SOCIAL VALUES
However, a top-down strategy led by government policy would be incapable of solving China’s graying problem, and the solution must come from the grassroots level, Watts said.
This would require a complete overhaul of social values of consumption and conservation among the general public.
In fact, Beijing could look to Taiwan as an example of a success story in which both citizens and government officials have an awareness of global warming and the dire need for clean alternative energy.
Watts said that while interviewing Taiwanese officials last year in the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot, many acknowledged the unprecedented rainfall that left more than 700 dead or missing was likely a result of climate change and that the country needed to accelerate its defenses against extreme weather in the future.
Although Taiwan’s carbon footprint per person is “very high” and more should be done to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, Watts said he was “extremely impressed” by Taipei City’s recycling program.
“I think it is a good model for China. The recycling situation in China is appalling, frankly. There is so much waste and it is not used properly. In a sense, it is not about techniques, but about the values — wanting to recycle used things, and I think that [awareness] is stronger here and can be carried over to the mainland,” he said.
Watts added that multinational conglomerates, including China-based Taiwanese companies, could contribute by cleaning up their supply chains and increasing their efforts to amplify environmental protection as part of their corporate social responsibility.
“In the 19th century, my country, Britain, taught the world how to produce. In the 20th century, the US taught the world how to consume. And I think in the 21st century, we really need China to teach us how to sustain,” he said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators