Has China Excellent Environmental Policies as It Is Stated - Essay Example

?For a developing country is there always a trade-off between growth and the environment? In a vast majority of cases, there is a trade-off between economic growth and development, and environment for the developing countries. Many developing countries like China have achieved economic growth and development with policies that are compromising with respect to environmental health and safety. Major transformations occurred in the environmental policy of China ranging from prioritization of the economic development to placement of equal emphasis on economic development and environmental protection. China’s environment has degraded at a very fast pace over the past two decades. “The high-growth, resource-intensive development strategy China has pursued, coupled with the norms and institutional relationships designed to support this development strategy, have no doubt played a critical role in the deteriorating quality of the environment” (Jahiel, n.d., p. 34). The decentralization of economy has provided the officials both operating at the provincial level and at the regional level with incentives and means to develop and advance the local economies. There has been a pervasive emphasis on the consumerism, development, and profit in the proclamations of the government as well as throughout the society. This has made the local governments feel justified in intervening against such regulations as environmental protection since they are considered unfavorable to the growth of economy. Rapid growth of economy has been the major goal of the Chinese state since the 1990’s. This goal has been supported by the state by means of institutional arrangements like creation of the consumerist and growth-oriented social norms, and the decentralization of political economy that spurs local initiative. In addition to that, China uses the contribution to rapid growth of economy as a lens to define the authority relations; a lot of authority is assumed by the organizations which support the primary goal of state. Qu Geping who has remained the Minister of Environmental Protection in China from 1987 to 1993 said in an interview with South China Morning Post, “I have to admit that (national and local) governments have done far from enough to rein in the wild pursuit of economic growth, and failed to avoid some of the worst pollution scenarios we, as policymakers, had predicted” (Geping cited in King, 2013). In its attempt to maintain the economic boom, the enterprises owned by state in China that account for the employment of up to 110 to 115 million workers need to be shut down or streamlined, which would result in the ruse of social dislocation as well as unemployment (Knup, n.d., p. 9). There is a lot of tendency of growth in the social unrest as the urban centers teem with the unemployed people providing them with no previous benefits. Demands of more consumer goods and food have increased because of the rising standards of living at the same time, that have increased the pressure on the government to sustain further growth of economy since the expectations of the people have to be satisfied. Indeed, the biggest challenge that the Chinese leaders are facing today is how to sustain the growth of economy and simultaneously address the rising social challenges. China faces significant environmental challenges-what is it doing to head them off? Transformations in the environmental policies of China are a fundamental component of the Scientific Outlook on Development that is amongst the major national strategic theories of China. With the frequent occurrence of natural disasters and climate changes on a global scale, the whole world has paid attention toward China’s environmental policy, since it is a major power of the world in the present age. China induced major changes in its environmental policy in the 1990s. The environmental policy was integrated into the growth strategy of China. China went on board with a comprehensive approach to the environmental policy as the administration of Hu Jintao commenced in the 21st century. In 2004, the recycling-based economy’s social concept was made part of the policy while that of the resource-saving society was included in the environmental policy in the year 2005. Over the passage of time, these social concepts have been included in the overall policy framework. In addition to that, many changes have been made in the measures of administration like exclusive reliance on the governmental control and adoption of an integrated approach of the technical, economic, and legal administrative measures. Although the conventional environmental policy has enabled China to progress in the control of pollutants to a considerable extent, yet the issues of controlling the emission of sulfur dioxide from the factories, and the heavy discharge of wastewater from the households and factories are still unresolved. As a result of this, there has been an increase in the overall load of pollutants on the environment. Besides, China is currently facing a lot of problems that include but are not limited to climate change, water shortage, electronic waste, and organic pollutants. Although progress is made to address the issues of environmental protection in China, yet the legal culture of China obscures that progress. The legal culture of China does not readily disseminate or divulge the information that may be of use to the members of the regulated communities (Ferris and Zhang, 2005). China has been working for over a century’s quarter to develop the policies, build a comprehensive institutional apparatus to resolve the problems of environment, and promulgate laws. The apparatus of environmental protection in China has specifically suffered from two fundamental problems; lack of coordination among the institutional actors and insufficient authority (Jahiel, n.d., p. 34). It is not clear whether the administrative reforms of the National People’s Congress of 1998 would change these problems dramatically. What kind of role does China play in terms of international environmental policy? The environmental threats of China have been sensed internationally since the 1990’s. In a comment President Bill Clinton made to President Jiang Zemin on Octobor, 1995, the greatest threat from China to the security of the US was identified as environmental rather than of military (Lieberthal, n.d., p. 1). The remark made by President Clinton raises the issues of environment to the economic interests’ priority level, issues of Asian security, and concerns of the human rights. The continued growth of China in terms of military, economy, and demography has already developed the state as a very important player in the fields of international trade and politics. It is, to a considerable extent, because of these changes that the concurrently increasing environmental issues of the PRC have made it evolve as a big player on the environmental agreements and issues internationally. “These fora are designed to facilitate discussion on environmental issues in China, determine how the United States can most fruitfully engage China on the environment, and explore the means by which government agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and private businesses can best work together to assist the Chinese in addressing future environmental dilemmas” (Lieberthal, n.d., p. 1). What kind of role does China play in terms of international environmental policy? The government of China established the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) in an atmosphere of domestic as well as international concern about the environmental issues. Qian Qichen, the Vice Premier of China challenged the Council while opening CCICED’s early session using these words, “How then, can we meet the opportunities and challenges facing human beings and bring our world into a more promising 21st century? Extensive and effective international cooperation is the only sensible alternative. Environment and development is one of the areas where such cooperation is most needed and most vividly manifested” (Qichen cited in Drake, n.d., p. 27). The CCICED was primarily established in order to further strengthen the exchange and cooperation between the international community and China in such fields as development and environment. Considering the aversion toward the horizontal coordination between the work units in China that has traditionally prevailed in China as well as the suspicion of the foreigners, it is indeed, an appreciable fact that China has shown agreement for coordination between the ministries of China and foreigners’ involvement in the case of CCICED. An in-depth consideration of the proceedings of the CCICED ever since its establishment leads to the conclusion that it is unique in a variety of ways. The Council has successfully invited the senior officials in China at least once every year to ponder over the major issues of development and environment confronting China. Since the beginning of establishment of the Council, the government of China has been regularly producing plans of action, and standards and laws of environment consistent with the recommendations of the Council. However, the extent to which these achievements can be exclusively attributed to the Council without the external influences cannot be objectively estimated. Nevertheless, the biggest question, still remains unanswered; “how effective these paper plans will be in effecting real progress in the many polluted towns and threatened eco-systems of rapidly industrializing?” (Drake, n.d., p. 32). How can you explain the upsurge in environmental protests? The environmental artery of China is bleeding. The environmental problems of soil erosion, fouled water, and air pollution have grown so big in China that they are practically reported in the Chinese press every single day and are frequently accompanied by the plans of government to deal with these ecological problems, one after another. The reaction of ordinary people to the deepening environmental crisis of China is rarely reported by the news media. Recently, environmental protests have erupted in rural China. “The promulgation of China’s first environmental law, in 1979, has not only provided a legal basis for environmental protection but also enhanced the public’s sense of basic rights in favor of justifying forceful, sometimes even violent, environmental protests” (Fing, n.d., p. 143). These protests in China reflect a repertoire of several social movements in the history of China that are culturally informed as well as rich. Factors that serve as symbolic and institutional resources in the protestors’ mobilization include but are not limited to kinship, moral concerns, tales of justice, and popular religion. These issues’ interplay informs the cultural and social context that serve as ground for the rural environmental protests. Many a times, these issues are organized with the intention of improving the ecology for the well-being of the people rather than striving to protect the health and safety of the natural environment. One of the environmental protests made in the recent years was the one made in Dalian, China in August 2011. This environmental protest was successful, which is indeed, an unusual result of a protest in China. This protest was directed at a chemical factory based in Dalian that was involved in manufacturing Paraxylene. This chemical plant is located 50 yards from the back of the sea wall and a chemical leakage could easily be triggered by a tropical storm. This chemical factory had been in the news because of the triumphant Xiamen protest in the year 2007 that caused the government of China to relocate a plant to an area that was less densely populated using Paraxylene from Xiamen (Veena, 2011). After the protest, the municipal authority declared this plant’s closure and relocation. These measures by the municipal authority symbolize the occurrence of a revolutionary change in the attitude of the government. The Dalian protest shows how effective can social media be when the middle class citizens use it to register their voices on the environmental issues in China. There is a new wave of protest against the environmental issues in China that is based on issue instead of being anti regime. Luliang chemical plant fetched another controversy in China that did not get much media attention because of being located in the rural Yunnan that happens to be amongst the poorest of all provinces in China. Large quantities of a carcinogen, chromium, were dumped in spite of the repeated reports of cases of cancer from the doctors and local farmers. The local administration of the area showed its helplessness while it was transformed into an industrial zone. Brutal force was used to repress the local protests in Luliang. The economic upsurge in China paved the way for the creation of a moderate middle class which reaps the benefit of the liberal policies and generally supports the government of China. The moderate middle class in China does not aspire to such movements of anti-regime as the incident of Tiananmen Square. Protests that are risk free, issue based, and result oriented are preferred by the urban middle class citizens of China, though the government pursues ban of the social media and social networking websites. The nature of environmental protests in China varies because of a range of political and economic factors. Dalian is a result of the liberal policies of China and the area’s white collar inhabitants that are categorized as new middle class. The protestors that gathered at Dalian used their political right in order to develop an environment that is free of pollution. Therefore, they were eager to demonstrate peacefully so that the protest was risk free and issue based. On the other hand, the number of protestors of Luliang was lesser and they belonged to an economy that was oriented around agriculture. Some of the earliest and most enduring NGOs have been in the environmental sphere. What are the challenges and opportunities for ENGOs? One factor that has gained a lot of attention of observers both within and outside Chins is the emergence of social organizations. People have mixed views with respect to these social organizations in China. While some consider them as the initial sign of the nascent civil society in China while others see it with suspicion as the breeding ground for resistance and anarchy against the state, though none of the depictions is accurate in its entirety. Presently, social organizations are rapidly establishing in China in unconventional forms that have not been observed before. Owing to the fact that the social organizations are emerging in a social, political, and economic context that is quite unique to China, they have specific Chinese characteristics in them that make them different from the traditional NGOs of the West. However, at the same time, their visualization with the predominantly Western lens causes confusion. One of their characteristics that raises major concerns is the degree of autonomy enjoyed by the social organizations in China. The Chinese social organizations are undoubtedly more strongly tied to the government than they are in most of the other countries. Although this closeness with the government limits the activities of the Chinese social organizations, yet it also plays a major role in making them effective in the Chinese context. Till the time the NGOs keep addressing the issues that are considered valid by the state at large, and that too in such a way that the state deems appropriate, the NGOs will always find certain public space that is likely to even expand with the passage of time. Nevertheless, considering the fact that the situation in China is fluid presently, it cannot be said with utmost surety that this will happen. This imparts the need for the NGOs in China to tread warily in a political climate that is uncertain and vague and that carefully monitors the threats to the political elite of China and China’s social stability. There are no laws in China that regulate the establishment, advancements, and management of NGOs. Although the Ministry of Civil Affairs is working on some drafts, though there are negligible chances of such laws getting past in the near future. “Currently the only legal document pertaining to social organizations in China is the “Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Social Organizations,” promulgated in 1989” (Knup, n.d., p. 10). Lack of laws comes as an opportunity for the NGOs since they can be more carefree in their activities because accurate categorization of the various forms of organizations that presently exist or might emerge is difficult to achieve. However, the Chinese leaders are aware of the fact that the environmental NGOs can be dangerous for the plans of economic development of the state and that these NGOs can easily be politicized. The fluid nature of the situation in China subjects the assertions regarding NGOs to equally rapid revision. Conclusion I agree with the statement; “China has excellent environmental policies on paper. The problem is that the policies are not implemented” to a certain extent. China’s environmental policies cannot be considered excellent as there is a range of socioeconomic, political, and legal factors that deter the best policies from being made. As far as the implementation of policies is concerned, it cannot be said that they are not being implemented at all. Several measures like establishment of the CCICED have yielded fruitful results for China. However, it can be said that the implementation of the environmental policies is not very effective. While the economic reforms have played a major role in the development of opportunities for the Chinese citizens, they have also aggravated many social problems of China, of which, environmental challenges are main. There are several implications of the primary goal, distribution of authority, and structure of the Chinese state in relation to the protection of environment. Firstly, the state has a functionally fragmented nature that makes the challenges of regulation of state agencies prominent especially as the regulatory policy’s targets are many. Secondly, powerful organs of the government tend to ignore the demands of weaker organs because of the rank’s importance as the designator of authority inside the local government organs’ matrix. Thirdly, the regulatory agencies’ budgetary control suggests a greater influence of the local interests on the way of implementation of policy as compared to the central-level regulatory agencies’ interests which, in effect, limits the ability of the central government to develop coordination across the regions. Lastly, the main concern for the growth of economy undermines the tendency of the state to prioritize its measures for environmental protection. A vast majority of the environmental policies in China are too long term, complex, and deeply rooted in the competing interests of economy to be practicable or effective. References: Drake, E n.d., China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, China Environment Series, [Online] Available at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ACF4CF.PDF [accessed: 15 March 2013]. Ferris, RJ, and Hongjun, Z 2005, “Environmental Law in the People’s Republic of China”, (pp. 66?101), in K. A. Day (ed.), China’s Environment and the Challenge of Sustainable Development, Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe. Fing, F n.d., Environmental protests in rural China, [Online] Available at http://faculty.washington.edu/stevehar/honors-jj.pdf [accessed: 15 March 2013]. King, B 2013, How You Could Profit From China’s Air Pollution, The Daily Reckoning, [Online] Available at http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/how-you-could-profit-from-chinas-air-pollution/2013/01/29/ [accessed: 15 March 2013]. Knup, E n.d., Environmental NGOs in China: An Overview, China Environment Series, [Online] Available at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ACF4CF.PDF [accessed: 15 March 2013]. Lieberthal, K n.d., China’s Governing System and its Impact on Environmental Policy Implementation, China Environment Series, [Online] Available at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ACF4CF.PDF [accessed: 15 March 2013]. Jahiel, AR 2003, “The Organization of Environmental Protection in China”, (pp. 33?63), in Rich-ard Louis Edmonds (ed.), Managing the Chinese Environment, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Veena, R 2011, Comparing Two Recent Environmental Protests in China, IIT Madras China Studies Centre, [Online] Available at http://www.csc.iitm.ac.in/?q=node/117 [accessed: 15 March 2013]. Read More