Environmental Protection and Western Development

The contradictory between development and environmental
protection has been well solved in the western countries. Here
the western means the west region in China, where the industry
is far from developed. China’s government started to develop
western region for several years, no matter what is the goal.
Some companies who want to get cheap labor, prior policies, and
abundant reserves have shifted their production sites into Inner
Mongolia, Qinghai, Xinjiang and other western provinces.
Followed by the industrial development and active economy,
pollutions also come to the western region.
   A county government of Inner Mongolia imported a large scale
pharmaceutical production line with high pollution. In the
initial production, the poisonous waste water had been
discharged into the fields of farmers, which caused some farmers
ill. Finally the local government found a way to solve the
problem by paying a very high price.  
   There are still many local officials stress on their own
political positions rather than public benefits. In the process
of merchandising and absorbing investment, almost all local
governments in western regions announce outwardly that any
projects that will bring about pollutants are not welcome,
however, new chemical projects are being approved one by one.
Some local governments even decrease the allowance level of
environmental protection in order to build up unreasonable
projects.
   An official worked for a western local government comments
that the economy in western regions lag behind a lot. “We shall
firstly find a point to grow up economy and make money, then the
government can afford to protect environment.” They want to
repeat the old way - pollution and then treatment, which other
developed countries have experienced dozens of years ago.
   An administer of a provincial environmental protection
bureau in western region claims that he has quarreled with nearly
all companies who discharge pollutants into public places, but
has won a little. Local government including mayors and
provincial presidents prevent those ‘pollutants’ company from
punishing so that the local economy performs well. Officials
typically prefer political success to protecting environment
that people rely on. The standards that the central government
judges a local official focus more on economic growth rather than
good environment.
   The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) was
said to lift as a committee or ministry, which will posses higher
rights similar to the National Development and Reform Committee.
A high official from SEPA discloses that five centers of
environmental protection and supervision in eastern, southern,
northwest, southwest, and northeast China will be set up this
year and shall report directly to SEPA instead of provincial
government.    
   The existed laws and regulations protecting environment are
judged to be very soft. So some manufacturing companies would
rather hand over forfeit that treat with pollutants. Protecting
environment and developing economy will weigh the same in the
balance of central government, we can see.

Zhong Weike
October 31, 2006