‘Airpocalypse’ dirties credibility of Chinese government
Pollution that shrouds half a billion people may go from environmental concern to public policy crisis
China’s latest “airpocalypse”, in which severe smog is affecting half a billion people, could move from an environmental concern to a public policy crisis if Beijing fails to clean up its air, analysts warn.
The Chinese government,which has failed on promises to clear the air while accusing the US Embassy of focusing on the capital city’s pollution, is seeing its credibility dirtied as smog covered one-seventh of the country’s territory this week, including Beijing.
Hundreds of flights were grounded, schools suspended classes, private cars were banned from city roads, highways were closed and hospitals were jammed with patients suffering from a level of air pollution that, in many places, exceeded the limit of air quality monitoring devices.
A red alert on air pollution in Beijing – the highest level of the country’s four-tier system – was forecast to be lifted at midnight on Thursday as an incoming cold front was expected to disperse the smog.
While many residents joke about the pollution on social media, an increasing number of people are also questioning the country’s air quality governance, and lawyers have filed suits against the governments of Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin.
