China says only it has right to monitor air pollution

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

Source: Reuters

A senior Chinese official demanded on Tuesday that foreign embassies stop issuing air pollution readings, saying it was against the law and diplomatic conventions, in pointed criticism of a closely watched U.S. embassy index.

The level of air pollution in China's heaving capital varies, depending on the wind, but a cocktail of smokestack emissions, vehicle exhaust, dust and aerosols often blankets the city in a pungent, beige shroud for days on end.

The U.S. embassy has installed a monitoring point on its roof which releases hourly air-quality data via a widely followed Twitter feed. The U.S. consulates in Shanghai and the southern city of Guangzhou provide a similar service.

...

Chinese experts have criticised the single U.S. embassy monitoring point as "unscientific".



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/uk-china-environment-idUSLNE85400D20120605

---

If the monitor is on the roof of the U.S. embassy, isn't it measuring U.S. air quality?

[truthisfreedom]

1. I've been to Shanghai within the last two years.

You really need to know what the heck is going on with pollution there. It's abominable.

[may3rd]

2. They still hold the 'developing nation' waiver ?

That was the way they sold their industrial growth in the past.
Time to change the rules

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. I think the U.S. should be classified as a "developing nation" ...

... until we have rational and equitable systems of health care and education.

But, I agree, China is probably a little past the "developing" stage. The U.N. defines it according to individual income, not industrial capacity, so China probably still qualifies. Plus, to change the classification probably requires passage by the U.N., and guess who has veto power.

[sofa king]

3. China, meet North Carolina

You both love catfish, long walks on polluted beaches, and weather control via legislation and edict. Why don't the two of you take a turn on the veranda and get to know one another better?

[drynberg]

4. GOOD LUCK, WITH THAT HEAD IN THE SAND APPROACH

China is an idea whose time has come...and gone...the truth is a bitch, but China, it's still the truth and you can't hide it forever, oh no, especially on the World Stage that you seem to want to dance on.

[DCKit]

6. China's air quality alerts: Mask, Straw, Spoon nt

[leftynyc]

7. One of our employees goes to China

twice a year for about 2 weeks each trip. He comes home coughing and coughs for a couple of weeks. Says the air there is atrocious.

[NickB79]

13. A friend of ours went there to visit family a few years ago

Her complexion when she came home was HORRIBLE! She had smooth, unblemished skin before she left, and came home completely broken out in pimples and blackheads all over her cheeks, nose, chin and forehead.

She also reported that the air quality was unbelievably bad. She brought back pictures of what she claimed was a temple on the opposite shoreline of a small lake. Unfortunately, you could barely make it out due to the overwhelming smog.

[JDPriestly]

8. Now we know why our military is sending 60% of the Navy to the Pacific --

to monitor the air pollution and observe environmental changes. Aha!

It's clear now.

[Odin2005]

9. Chinese pollution is a WMD.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

10. Aha! A U.S. attack strategy!

We keep buying their stuff, they keep poisoning themselves to produce the stuff we buy!

Devious and sinister!

[Left Coast2020]

11. I think if their dirty polluted air gets...

....blown over here via the jet stream winds, then we will monitor your air. I read an article about two years ago claiming pollution (allegedly) impacts Oregon and Washington the most--not to mention the ocean. When I was in Beijing last year, my coughing and rough breathing subsided after a month being back here.

[pampango]

12. Is this another of those national sovereignty arguments? What goes on in our border is our business.

Sorry, China. Today lots of things spill over borders and become "other people's" business. Pollution is one of those things. There are many others.

We are all in this together. Get used to it even if it conflicts with your "control" fetish.

[Seeking Serenity]

14. For the Chinese authorities, almost everything has to do with face.

[link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_(sociological_concept)]

Darn. Can't get the link to work. Oh, well.

[DeSwiss]

15. K&R

[siligut]

16. I was in Shanghai and Beijing in Sept 2010

I didn't really experience bad air pollution. Maybe they were keeping it down for the influx of tourists for the World Expo.

[4th law of robotics]

17. Likewise only tell people if it's raining if you have the governments permission

they may look outside and allow their lying eyes to tell them it's raining but without proper party training that information is meaningless and possibly counter-revolutionary.

[Franker65]

18. Grew too fast?

Last edited Thu Jun 14, 2012, 04:49 AM - Edit history (1)

I guess to a certain extent, the growth was so fast that the pollution levels took everybody by surprise. Now its out of control and hard to eliminate it. According to statistics, the Chinese are trying to put more money into resolving this problem. Their anti-pollution expenditure has increased alot in the last few years.

[rayofreason]

19. Beijing had the worst...

...air quality I had ever seen, edging out even New Delhi. No wonder the Chinese government doesn't want any independent reports.