Financial Times (April 15, 2013)
“An era of relatively slower growth in China is welcome news–both for the country and the global economy. The government’s previous insistence that it must achieve growth of at least 8 per cent a year betrayed a neurotic insecurity about social unrest. It has also involved increasingly unacceptable environmental and social costs–as anybody breathing the choking Beijing air can testify. President Xi Jinping’s statement last week that ‘China’s model of development is not sustainable” was a sign of political maturity.’”
Tags: Beijing, China, Environment, Slower growth, Social costs, Xi Jinping
Wall Street Journal (March 15)
China is being forced to focus on the environment due to chronic air quality issues in Beijing and the discovery of 6,000 dead pigs in tributaries that provide Shanghai’s drinking water. “The pork soup scandal, as it has been dubbed, hits the trifecta of Chinese mistrust of government: lack of a plan to protect the public interest instead of companies and officials, political corruption that fails to hold polluters accountable, and withholding timely information when disaster strikes.”
Tags: Air quality, Beijing, China, Environment, Government, Pigs, Pollution, Shanghai, Water quality
Financial Times (February 12)
“China must halt North Korea’s folly….For nearly two decades, North Korea has regularly scared the world with its determination to become a fully fledged nuclear weapons state. Yesterday it took another decisive step on that road.” North Korea’s third underground nuclear test should result in a clear line. Beijing “needs to respond to this week’s test with punitive measures that force Pyongyang to rethink its nuclear folly.”
Tags: Beijing, China, North Korea, Nuclear test, Pyongyang
New York Times (January 13)
Beijing’s notorious air pollution hit a new low on Saturday. First the background. The Air Quality Index of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranges from 0-500, with levels between 301 to 500 considered hazardous for all outdoor activity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a score of 500 indicates over 20 times the safe level of particulate matter. Beijing’s new record in dirty air left some speechless. “What phrase is appropriate to describe Saturday’s jaw-dropping reading of 755 at 8 p.m., when all of Beijing looked like an airport smokers’ lounge?”
Tags: Air pollution, Air Quality Index, Beijing, EPA, Hazardous, Particulate matter, WHO
The Economist (March 24)
In China, “the desperate scramble for parking spots has been added to the problems of chronic congestion, rising petrol prices and choking pollution.” There just aren’t enough spaces. Scuffles and even protests are arising. In Beijing, things are particularly tight. With 5 million cars and only 740,000 parking spaces, the city attempted to deal with the problem by quadrupling parking fees overnight.
In China, “the desperate scramble for parking spots has been added to the problems of chronic congestion, rising petrol prices and choking pollution.” There just aren’t enough spaces. Scuffles and even protests are arising. In Beijing, things are particularly tight. With 5 million cars and only 740,000 parking spaces, the city attempted to deal with the problem by quadrupling parking fees overnight.
Global Times (December 17)
As Beijing moves to ease congestion by restricting sales of autos, overseas news outlets are noting this story which advocates relocating the capital. “Traffic jams and environmental problems in Beijing are leading some experts to revisit a decades-long proposal for China to relocate its capital to Central China or another part of the country.” Other factors favoring a move involve limited drinking water and the need to boost regional development. Many, however, view any such move as impractical and unlikely.
Tags: Beijing, Capital, Environment, Relocation, Traffic jams
Institutional Investor (December)
The Mandarin Oriental Tokyo was named the world’s best hotel by Institutional Investor. The Mandarin received a score of 98.7, beating out competitors such as the Peninsula Beijing (94.1) and the Ritz Carlton Central Park New York (92.3). The results are based on the responses of senior finance executives from 35 countries who averaged 52 nights on the road in the previous year.
