In China, cleaning up public perception of the ongoing environment crisis carries more political weight than cleaning up the environment itself. Reporting from Zhoutie, The New York Times writes about the man-made environmental disaster that has befallen Lake Tai. The lake, a major source of drinking water for people living in Shanghai and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, is the clearest example of what happens when the fine line between economic growth and dangerous environmental degradation is crossed.
For years, famed “Environmental Warrior” Wu Lihong has single-handedly crusaded to expose the devastating effects of unchecked pollution from nearby chemical factories. Mr Wu’s environmental protests were damaging the areas reputation, and he has been arrested on trumped up political charges.
Lake Tai is rated Grade V by the State Environmental Protection Administration, the lowest level on its scale. In contradiction to this, the city of Yixing, which overseas Zhoutie, has been designated “Model City for Environmental Protection.” Clean up efforts amount to the following:
In 2001, Wen Jiabao, then a vice premier, now China’s prime minister, came to investigate reports of Lake Tai’s deterioration. Like most Communist Party inspection tours, word of this one reached local officials in advance. When Mr. Wen asked to see a typical dye plant, one was made ready, according to several people who witnessed the preparations.
The factory got a fresh coat of paint. The canal that ran beside it was drained, dredged and refilled with fresh water. Shortly before Mr. Wen’s motorcade arrived, workers dumped thousands of carp into the canal. Farmers were positioned along the banks holding fishing rods.
Mr. Wen spent 20 minutes there. A picture of him shaking hands with the factory boss hangs in its lobby.
Read the complete Times article In China, a Lake’s Champion Imperils Himself.
Choking on Growth series of articles
- As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes
- Beneath Booming Cities, China’s Future Is Drying Up
- In China, a Lake’s Champion Imperils Himself