China, the Dark Side
May 11, 2008 | 6:37 pm | by t-blender |Rate It:
the independent: China’s rise in the early 21st century is the headiest tale of development the world has ever seen. A drive through Beijing or Shanghai or Shenzhen or Guangdong gives you all the evidence that you could ever want of the 66 per cent expansion of the Chinese economy in the past five years. But it doesn’t take long in China to see the problems that the country faces as it enters this new stage of development – and how managing these issues is the Communist Party’s main challenge.
Pollution
Some problems that China faces are under the surface – particularly the political conundrums – but the issues of pollution and the rural-urban split are obvious even as you look out of the window of a cab whizzing you from the airport to your hotel. A glance at the sky, combined with a casual sniff of the air, and you start to see that China’s rise has not been without its consequences. Cities are enveloped in a white haze for much of the time, any signs of the sky blocked out by the effects of manufacturing nearly half the world’s finished industrial goods.
When the capital disappears inside yellow clouds – a mix of coal smoke, sand, particulate matter and ozone – people leave their bicycles at home and opt for an air-conditioned car instead.
In Beijing, pollution can be vicious, although it has improved noticeably in this Olympic year. This is part of the reason for the improvement – the International Olympic Committee has warned that cycling events and marathon running may have to be postponed if the air quality is not up to scratch by the time the Games open on 8 August.
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