Sinica Podcast
06.28.17
Top U.S. Diplomat David Rank on Why He Resigned to Protest Trump
from Sinica Podcast
David Rank became the leading diplomat for one of America’s most important embassies during the transition when Iowa governor Terry Branstad formally succeeded former Montana senator Max Baucus as U.S. Ambassador to China on May 24, 2017. He soon...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.13.17‘We Had to Sue’: The Five Lawyers Taking on China’s Authorities over Smog
Guardian
In an unprecedented legal case, a group of Chinese lawyers have charged the governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei with failing to protect their citizens from air pollution, which is linked to a third of all deaths in the country
ChinaFile Recommends
01.19.17In China, Pollution Fears Are Both Literal and Metaphorical
NPR
Last month, as China encountered some of its worst pollution yet, artists in Chengdu did something bold: They put smog-filtering cotton masks over the faces of statues representing ordinary urbanites that dot a centrally located shopping street.
Environment
11.16.16
The Future of Public Interest Litigation in China
from chinadialogue
China has seen a rapid growth in environmental public interest legal challenges since January 2015, when a revised version of the Environmental Protection Law (EPL) came into effect. Nearly 100 lawsuits have been filed by both NGOs and public...
ChinaFile Recommends
06.21.16China To Generate a Quarter of Electricity From Wind Power By 2030
Guardian
China prides itself on being the world’s wind energy leader by a wide margin.....
Caixin Media
12.09.15
Progress for NGOs Battling Polluters in Court
Two environmental groups have become the first non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in China to win a lawsuit that champions nationwide battles against polluters on behalf of the public. A court in Nanping, a city in the southeastern province of...
Green Space
12.04.15
Green Activists Detained for ‘Prostitution,’ Yangtze Dolphins Rebound
Given that the Paris climate negotiations are underway, it is fair to start off with something about rising temperatures. This comes from a neat animation posted on Data Seeds’ WeChat Account that visualizes the warming trend within China’s borders...
Environment
09.03.15
The Yellow River: A History of China’s Water Crisis
from chinadialogue
During the hot, dry month of August 1992, the farmers of Baishan village in Hebei province and Panyang village in Henan came to blows. Residents from each village hurled insults and rudimentary explosives at the other across the Zhang River—the...
The China Africa Project
07.14.15
China’s Rapidly Changing Views on Wildlife Conservation in Africa
A dramatic shift in Chinese public opinion about animal welfare and global wildlife conservation appears to be underway. Supported by high-profile celebrity campaigns by NBA legend Yao Ming and actress Li Bing Bing, there is growing awareness in...
Conversation
03.03.15
Why Has This Environmental Documentary Gone Viral on China’s Internet?
[Updated: March 6, 2015] Our friends at Foreign Policy hit the nail on the head by headlining writer Yiqin Fu's Monday story "China's National Conversation about Pollution Has Finally Begun." What happened? Well, in the...
Environment
02.23.15
Chinese Firms Must Act Decisively on Climate Change, Report Says
from chinadialogue
Chinese companies will need to cut direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of their operations by up to 2.7% a year if China is to stay on track with the level of action required to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, says a new report...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.26.14Despite Persecution, Guardian of Lake Tai Spotlights China’s Polluters
New York Times
ZHOUTIE, China — By autumn, the stench of Lake Tai and the freakish green glow of its waters usually fade with the ebbing of the summer heat, but this year is different. Standing on a concrete embankment overlooking a fetid, floating array of...
The China Africa Project
09.08.14
Cameroon’s Illegal Timber Finds a Market in China
Cameroon’s rain forests are rapidly vanishing due to widespread corruption, according to a new report from Greenpeace Africa. The environmental activist group alleges that much of the illegally-harvested timber from Cameroon ends up in China where...
Environment
02.28.14
Citizen Sues Local Government for Failing to Curb Air Pollution
from chinadialogue
Although residents in Northern China are no strangers to dirty air, a man from the smog-enshrouded Hebei province has decided to take the local environmental authority to court for failing to control air pollution.Li Guixin, a resident in Hebei’s...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.29.14Mass Slaughter of Vulnerable Shark Species in China, Wildlife Group Says
New York Times
600 whale sharks are being slaughtered annually at a factory near Wenzhou for foreign and domestic use.
Environment
01.21.14
Real-time Air Quality Data Due from 179 Chinese Cities
from chinadialogue
More than 170 cities in China have now joined a real-time air quality disclosure scheme, initiated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.Launched in 2012, more than sixty cities had started publishing data from their monitoring stations by the...
Environment
12.05.13
Daoism, Confucianism, and the Environment
from chinadialogue
In September, an unusual environmental organization was launched in one of the most ancient and significant sites in China—the Songyang Academy, Dengfeng, Henan. Founded in the eleventh century AD, this was one of the four Confucian Academies of...
ChinaFile Recommends
08.13.13Can China Clean Up Fast Enough?
Economist
China is going through an industrial-powered growth spurt and the urge to get rich outweighs the desire for clean air. However, China is beginning to clean up its act.
Environment
05.30.13
China’s “NIMBY” Protests: Sign of Unequal Society
from chinadialogue
NIMBY—or “not in my backyard”—protests happen when residents attempt to protect their neighborhoods from the negative impacts of public or industrial facilities. Since the 2007 “walking protests” against a PX chemical factory in Xiamen, we have seen...
ChinaFile Recommends
05.21.13Kunming Pollution Protest Is Tip Of Rising Chinese Environmental Activism
Guardian
The frequency of protests is rising as China’s increasingly affluent and middle-class society becomes more aware of environmental issues. This protest in Kunming is the second large protest in a week over environmental concerns.