Beijing Skies Turn Orange as Northern China Hit by Sandstorms

Social media users quipped that “Operation Blue Sky” clearly still had some time to run, in a reference to Feb. 25 comments from air pollution czar Liu Bingjiang, who claimed that “Operation Blue Sky” had exceeded its goals, and that “the battle to keep our skies blue has been won.”

China Is a Hot Spot of Ground-Level Ozone Pollution

Troy Oakes  |  Vision Times In China, people breathe air thick with the lung-damaging pollutant ozone two to six times more often than people in the United States, Europe, Japan, or South Korea, according to a new assessment. By one metric — a total number of days with daily maximum average ozone values (8-hour average) […]

China’s Growing Rich Spell Trouble for the Country

VISION TIMES According to a report released on June 20, 2017, by China Merchants Bank and Bain & Company, the number of rich people in China increased nearly 9-fold in the past 10 years, 70 percent of whom accumulated their wealth within the last 5 years. The analysis indicated that the surge in the number of […]

China Slams Anti-Pollution Efforts in Major Cities, Detains Dozens

Xi Wang  |  Radio Free Asia The ruling Chinese Communist Party has hit out at the country’s three megacities for failing to meet pollution targets, while authorities detained 61 people on charges linked to pollution. Leaders of Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing were found to have provided “inadequate” environmental protection to their 85 million residents, according […]

China’s Fight Against Air Pollution Suffers Setback

Joyce Huang  |  Voice of America A recent recovery in steel and coal production in China has posed a challenge to the country’s war on pollution, aimed at reversing the damage done to its skies, soil and water. As both industries represent two of the largest polluting sectors in China, some analysts are expressing concerns […]

Thousands Protest Aluminum Plant in Chinese Oil City of Daqing

Yang Fan  |  Radio Free Asia Thousands of people took to the streets of northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province on Tuesday in protest over plans to build an aluminum plant near their home, protesters told RFA. The protesters marched through the streets of the oil city of Daqing, in what local residents was a third day […]

China Reins in Smog Warnings Amid ‘Confusion’ Over Pollution Alerts

Yang Fan  |  Radio Free Asia China’s meteorological bureau may be ordered to stop issuing smog warnings, sparking fears that the government may be getting ready to censor air pollution data centrally. The country’s Meteorological Administration reportedly told regional bureaus on Tuesday to “immediately stop issuing smog alerts,” in a photograph of an official notice […]

Beijing Issues Red Smog Alert As Toxic Air Pollution Smothers Northern China

Xin Lin and Yang Fan  |  Radio Free Asia Environmental protection officials on Friday called on the government to issue red smog alerts for 23 cities in northern China after Beijing issued a red alert for air pollution. In what state media said was likely the worst smog since autumn, officials in Beijing had already […]