Is China Ruled by Foreign Powers?! -- China Shifts Pollution Blame/RFA
China Shifts Pollution Blame
2006.12.18
http://www.rfa.org/english/features/lelyveld/2006/12/15/Pollution200.jpg
July 18: 2006: Cyclists pass through thick pollution from a factory in
Yutian, in China's northwest Hebei province. Photo: AFP/Peter Parks
Chinese officials are trying to deflect blame for the country’s
pollution onto foreign firms, accusing them of “environmental
colonialism,” experts say. The move follows government concern over
thousands of anti-pollution protests in the past year.
In a December 3 opinion piece in The Washington Post, a leading China
analyst called the effort a “blame game.”
Elizabeth Economy, director for Asia studies at the New York-based
Council on Foreign Relations, said that Chinese officials, the press,
and some activists have charged multinational corporations with
“exporting pollution” by sourcing their products in China and ignoring
environmental rules.