China is committed to improving its environment, of that there is no doubt.
There is simply no alternative, as Mother Earth has already proved in certain
regions with numerous disasters, great and small.
But some officials, mainly local ones, still sacrifice the environment out of
their eagerness to achieve economic growth.
So far, our line of thinking in this area has been concentrated on the
production side. The government takes pain in reducing pollution and improving
energy and resource efficiency through legislation, environmental impact
assessment for major projects, strict law enforcement and hefty penalties.
These the government can do easily, and they can quantitatively measure
results. Judging from past records, these results can be spectacular too.
A case in point regards soil erosion. Before, we lost valuable farmland to
the tune of over 2,000 square kilometres a year, but during the last decade we
actually gained fertile land from desert areas and increased forestry coverage
through years of persistent tree planting. This is a feat very few countries,
both rich and poor, have achieved.
But this is still not good enough for China.
Our environment is in such a pitiful state that over 60 per cent of the
country is environmentally fragile. Some small achievements simply cannot help
reverse the general trend.
We have so far attained a per capita GDP of just US$1,000, and still have to
continue developing our economy at a rapid pace. This will lead to further
environment degradation and resources depletion.
If we want to achieve a peaceful rise, we will have to allay international
fears that China will soon literally fight for her insatiable demand for natural
resources worldwide.
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