Is China cracking down on pollution violators?
Chinese police have detained 10 company officials Thursday for lying about their pollution data, the environment ministry reports.聽
The company officials are accused of 鈥渦sing fake figures to , manipulating environment monitoring results or hindering such monitoring,鈥� the Ministry announced Thursday.聽
A total of eight companies were accused, including a Coca-Cola joint venture in the Gansu province and sewage plant in the southern city of Dongguan. To help improve the country鈥檚 air quality, the government issues subsidies to companies effectively reducing their pollution. The ministry says the Dongguan sewage plant inflated the volume of pollution it treated , equivalent to $3.1 million.
Some of the companies could face criminal lawsuits, and subsequent conviction of environmental pollution crimes could yield a seven-year prison sentence.聽聽
鈥淓nvironmental awareness in Beijing is probably in terms of general public engagement in the issue of air pollution,鈥� Jonathan Batty, a spokesman for IBM Global labs, told Bloomberg.
Public engagement in the issue is exceptionally high this week as the Chinese capital of Beijing experienced its first-ever red alert for air pollution last week. Amid widespread discontent among Chinese citizens who have been advised to stay indoors, 鈥渢he nation on environment-related crimes,鈥� the state news agency Xinhua reports.聽
And many experts attribute China鈥檚 climate 鈥渃rackdown鈥� action on political stability and widespread public discontent rather than environmental stewardship.聽
鈥淐hina鈥檚 continuing struggle to control and reduce air pollution exemplifies the government鈥檚 fear that lifestyle issues will mutate into demands for political change,鈥� Mary Gallagher, associate professor of political science at the University of Michigan, told Bloomberg.聽
鈥淎s citizens know more about air pollution, more pressure will be put on the government,鈥� added Xu Qinxiang, a technology manager at Wuhan Juzheng Environmental Science & Technology, the company that created the 鈥淣ationwide Air Quality鈥� smartphone app in 2013. 鈥淭his will urge the government to control pollutant sources and upgrade heavy industries.鈥�
According to a Pew Research report released earlier this month, say air pollution is a "big" problem, with 35 percent of these people describing the problem as "very big."
The government has responded to public sentiment by introducing several technologies, such as drones, sensors, and apps, designed to aid pollution control.聽
This report contains material from the Reuters.
