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China to close plants over Games
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by Amy Judd | July 5, 2008 at 09:11 am
291 views | 17 Recommendations | 4 comments
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China has now ordered that 40 factories be closed in Beijing in the run-up to the Olympic Games, but many are doubtful that it is actually going to make a difference.
The plants in the eastern port city of Tianjin have been ordered to stop production from late July.
The move is the latest attempt by China to minimise air pollution in the capital during the Games in August.
Some athletes have expressed concern about air quality affecting their performance and damaging their health.
State media reports that work on key building sites in Tianjin will be suspended, including the construction of an underground railway line.
Two cement works, 26 building sites and six factories which cause "effluvial contamination" will also be affected, said Xinhua news agency.
On Friday, similar action was taken in the city of Tangshan, 150 km (90 miles) east of Beijing where about 300 factories will suspend their operations.
Beijing is one of the most polluted cities in the world and officials have been making extensive efforts to improve air quality before the Games.
But correspondents say that pollution in the city is as bad as ever and it is often shrouded in heavy smog.
Beijing was ranked as the second most polluted mega-city in the world by WHO in 1992 and since then the vehicle population of the city has more than doubled reaching 1.4 million in 1999. (Shanghai, the other host city proposed here for an FCB demonstration, ranked 19th.) The major sources of pollution in Beijing today are coal combustion and vehicle exhaust emissions.
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Amy Judd
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 09:19 on July 5th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
at 10:20 on July 5th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.
Too little too late! If the Chinese gov't actually care about the air quality, they should plant a lot more trees and have less construction/manufacturing.
at 13:30 on July 5th, 2008
amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. It's like the old Chinese curse -- we live in interesting times. I wonder how many world class athletes will be there for the opening ceremonies.
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Wenchiladaat 17:00 on July 5th, 2008
Just a quick question and only because I am interested. Have you actually ever been to Beijing? Before we left Australia, we found that many people were warning us that we wouldn't be able to breathe, the pollution was that bad. They seemed to know an awful lot about the place without having actually been here. Sure, there are times when the pollution is bad, but it is compounded by dust blowing in from the Gobi Desert and lately, fog, which are beyond the control of any government, let alone the Chinese one.
For a very realistic viewpoint here, we have just had about 3 weeks of 'grey days', where the air quality has been poor enough to make me reconsider going out with my two year old and infact, we have spent more time indoors (it has been very hot and humid here too). But it isn't as if I choke everytime I step outside. You can still breathe, the air does not smell bad and I am not flapping about on the cement gasping for oxygen like a fish out of water.
Another interesting point is, how would you feel if the place you worked at was forced to shut down (and I wonder if they will be paid for this time) just so some athletes can come and strut their stuff? Frankly, I'd be a bit miffed, just as loads of Sydneysiders are miffed they can't access their city freely because of the World Catholic I Mean Youth gathering there (but that's a whole other rant).
World class athletes? Your tax dollars at work.