The China Questions: Critical Insights Into a Rising Power by Jennifer Rudolph

Author:Jennifer Rudolph
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Asia, China, Political Science, International Relations, General, World, Asian, Social Science, Developing & Emerging Countries
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

21  IS THERE ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS IN CHINA?

Karen Thornber

THE SIMPLE ANSWER to this question is yes, environmental consciousness is quite strong in China, and it has grown significantly in the past decade. Most notably, the nation’s ever more educated and wealthy urban population is demanding a better quality of life for themselves and their children. Particularly concerning to Chinese of all classes is air pollution, which is becoming more and more disruptive and at times is so severe that cities are brought to a standstill, with airports and highways closed. Slowing if not reversing climate change is also a priority. Chinese president Xi Jinping’s opening plenary speech at the World Economic Forum in January 2017 positioned China as a leader in the global fight against climate change, even as the United States appears likely to withdraw from this role.

Recent reports rank China a dismal ninety-first in the world in Internet speed, while the government restricts access to numerous segments of the Internet. Yet social media—especially Weibo (Chinese Twitter) and Weixin (WeChat)—have greatly facilitated discussion and debate in China on environmental crises. Literature also has contributed to rising environmental consciousness and activism. Creative writers such as worldwide sensation Yan Lianke ruthlessly satirize the seeming obsession of Chinese authorities with economic growth and wealth at all costs. Especially noteworthy in this respect is Yan Lianke’s recent novel Explosion Chronicles (Zhalie zhi), which describes the transformation of Explosion from a small mountain hamlet into a megacity. This novel exposes and sharply critiques the relentless drive for economic dominance that has severely compromised human health, scarred China’s landscapes, and contributed to devastating pollution and global warming.

Film has had an even greater impact in strengthening Chinese environmental awareness. Former China Central Television journalist Chai Jing’s self-financed documentary film Under the Dome (Qiongding zhi xia), a penetrating if not entirely accurate exposé of air pollution in China along the lines of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth (2006), was viewed more than 150 million times within three days of its release in 2015. At first, Under the Dome escaped censorship. China’s Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining initially praised the film, drawing parallels with Rachel Carson’s monumental book Silent Spring (1962). Chinese officials likely promoted Chai Jing’s film because it focuses on the China National Petroleum Company, a target of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, and because, as has been reported in the press, the government viewed the film as a way to use public opinion to its advantage for promoting tougher measures for combating pollution. Yet within a week of its release, after it had been viewed more than 300 million times, Under the Dome was ordered removed from Chinese websites.

Despite such censorship, popular environmental consciousness probably has never been greater in China than it is today. The Chinese people are talking about environmental challenges and protesting environmental destruction more than ever before, while Chinese writers, film directors, visual artists, and other creative producers are addressing environmental degradation on a seemingly unprecedented scale. Furthermore, as historian Prasenjit

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