Agence France-Presse in Beijing
South China Morning Post
Hospital admissions for respiratory complaints rose 20 per cent in the latest smog to hit Beijing, reports said yesterday as state media demanded greater government openness on pollution.
This week’s pollution across vast swathes of the northern mainland region – the fourth serious case of toxic air in recent weeks – has sparked onlin …
South China Morning Post
The Chinese capital has been smothered in thick, foul-smelling smog for the past few days, the first pollution spike in 2013.
Air quality ratings for the city have ranged between “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” since Thursday, according to @BeijingAir, a twitter account run by the US embassy in Beijing.
As of 10am on Friday, the monitors showed a PM2.5 fine-parti …
Shi Jiangtao
South China Morning Post
Only five of 120 mainland cities logged “blue-sky days” on New Year’s Day as the first up-to-the-hour air quality readings were reported under tougher pollution standards.
Data posted on the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s website yesterday showed that most cities saw “moderate” levels of sulphur dioxide and PM10, or large particulate matter, wi …
SCMP
Shi Jiangtao in Beijing
Air quality in the nation’s capital plunged yesterday morning to pre-Olympic levels again as dense smog blanketed the city, severely disrupting air and road traffic.
Pollution readings from both the local environmental watchdog and the US embassy exceeded the upper limit of “hazardous” for most of the morning, prompting calls for urgent government action.
The thi …
SCMP
Shi Jiangtao in Beijing
The top environmental watchdog has set out a timetable for monitoring smog-related pollutants across the mainland amid mounting public pressure and setbacks in curbing pollution and energy waste this year.
The timetable unveiled by Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian on Wednesday is widely seen as a step in the right direction, but it fails to address mounting deman …
SCMP
Shi Jiangtao
Vice-premier vowed to make environmental protection a top priority to rein in runaway economic expansion.
He appealed to local authorities to seek a more balanced growth path by turning to clean energy and low carbon sectors, and addressing acute environmental woes such as persistent smog in urban areas.
His remarks, at the opening of a five-yearly national conference of env …
SCMP
Fiona Tam
Microbloggers liken Beijing authorities’ claims of decreasing air pollution to an April fool’s day joke.
Beijing’s environmental authorities said yesterday that air quality in the capital city in 2011 was better than during the Olympics year of 2008, and that they had already met their target of “blue sky” days for this year, despite growing public concern that officials are cove …
SCMP
Shi Jiangtao
Flights cancelled, roads are closed and sales of medical masks soar as experts warn of the health risks associated with the choking conditions.
Thick fog and smog that have blanketed much of northern China over the past three days are likely to persist at least until tomorrow, meteorological authorities warned yesterday.
Hundreds of flights were cancelled in Beijing and mo …
SCMP
Shi Jiangtao
Amid mounting public pressure, the authorities announced a plan to set up a new air-quality monitoring station to gauge severe smog in Beijing and Tianjin .
But the move, apparently aimed at appeasing the public over a lack of transparency in pollution data, does not appear to have worked, as complaints soared about dense smog that blanketed the capital yesterday.
Citin …
SCMP
Shi Jiangtao
Government reluctance to immediately change monitoring methods reinforces criticism it cannot face up to the grim truth of the urban environment.
The mainland’s top environmental watchdog has finally unveiled a timetable for long-awaited reform of outdated air pollution standards amid mounting public pressure.
But instead of directly answering calls for immediate public acces …