Since the very inception of China’s history, economic progress has been the nation’s top priority. The Chinese government has always stressed to its citizens that they will be rewarded with perpetual economic growth insofar as social stability and respect for the party-state are maintained. While this system has enabled China to develop further, bringing about many shared benefits, it has also proven to have detrimental impacts on the environment. For some time, the issue of environmental degradation was of no concern because the nation was experiencing such tremendous growth and as a result, a higher standard of living. However, China is currently embracing a paradigm shift in its priorities, as citizens have pressured the central government to take more affirmative actions in protecting the environment, even if it hinders economic gain. There is now hope that the nation will balance the economy with environmental preservation, which may ultimately lead to increased development through sustainable policy.
When Mao Zedong first rose to power, the notion of economic growth over environmental protection was instilled in the nation. Moreover, nature was perceived as “an enemy to be vanquished, not an ally to be cultivated”, and this philosophy was later espoused by Deng Xiaoping (11). In his work, What Does China Think, Mark Leonard asserts that Deng encapsulated the ideology of “economic growth-at-all-costs” in his famous expression: “It doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white. All that matters is that it catches mice” (6). Over the past twenty years, China has developed economically as a result of “Black Cat GDP growth”, but Leonard points to a new indicator of economic growth, “the Green Cat”, which is propounded by Hu Angan...
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Regional Developments. Singapore: World Scientific Co Pte, 2013. Print.
One of China’s best successes has in turn been one of its biggest downfalls. One of the main problems is China’s greatest success which has been its phenomenal economic growth. This is one of the main drivers of the current environmental problems that the country faces. Factories dump pollutants into the air and water. It is difficult to see the Chinese government making the significant sacrifices required to improve their environment if it means slowing down their economic growth.
In 1968, Karl Polanyi argued that ‘ the human economy... is embedded and enmeshed in institutions, economic and noneconomic’. To some extent, this argument can be used to support the issues raised in an article published in ‘the Guardian’. The article was in relation to the slowing down of china’s economy, and the implications that would inevitably affect developing and emerging markets around the world. Polanyi’s argument can assist in understanding why a Chinese slow down has occurred, and the extent in which it will affect global economies. The article raises many questions such as why china’s economy is so important in global economics, and what implications could take place if china’s economy gets worse.
American writer and political analyst, Michael Auslin argumentative essay “The Filth They Breathe in China” (January 11, 2017) argues China’s air quality is harmful and extremely dangerous to the people of China and their environment. Auslin conveys his argument through logos, pathos and imagery. Auslin’s purpose is to illustrate to his readers China’s economic growth destroying its environment. Auslins strengthens his overall point by adopting a convincing tone for readers with a concern for the environment.
China’s economy is one very large indicator of its role in globalization. “In 2010 China became the world’s largest exporter” (CIA World Factbook). Without China many places such as the United States of America would be without billions of goods imported from China annually. An influx of companies moving their manufacturing to China has allowed people to flock to cities and find jobs. China’s economy has grown exponentially over the last few decades. In the last three years China’s economy has grown by nearly ten percent every year. Despite this influx of money to China it has also resulted in many drawbacks. For example, China’s environment has been obliterated. China burns more coal than every country in the world combined. Beijing has been so badly polluted that there are actually companies that sell cans of fresh air to people, and gas masks are a common sight. On January 12th 2013 Beijing’s air pollution reached a record setting 775 PPM. To put that into perspective, the scale for measuring pollution is 0-500 PPM. This set an all-time recorded high. In Los Angeles a high ...
American economist, Rostow through his ‘Stages of Economic Development’ demonstrates that economies may ignore environmental quality in their quest for growth. This notion is true in China, with government and private firms using unsustainable practices in order to maximise globalisation opportunities. China suffers mostly from chronic air and water pollution caused by both the demand for energy (i.e. coal mines) as well as the process of manufacturing. This effect on the Chinese economy is quantified through China’s emissions, which in 2010, was 8,286 million metric tonnes, 35% higher than the next uppermost emitter, the United States. China is also home to 16 out of 20 most polluted cities in the world. Consequences for not cleaning up the environment will not just be a health crisis but an economic one. The Chinese government is now recognising and addressing the environmental problems which have occurred due to both rapid economic growth and industrialisation. It has set targets which aim at reducing pollution levels with $6.6b committed in spending in order to achieve such targets. Such examples include investment in nuclear power instead of coal, hydroelectricity (i.e. Three Gorges Dam) as well as new stringent environmental laws. It is hoped that new regulations and investment will lead the way for renewable energy and a sustainable
Desertification has consistently haunted Chinese climatic history. However, recent evidence suggests that the Chinese might have a little more on their hands than the global climate change experienced by generations before them. While global warming and climate change are a world concern, the Chinese have an invested interest in combating the desert destruction of their capital city. If these methods prove futile and anthropogenic forces accelerate desertification, then Beijing could be the first victim in the battle against global warming.
The Three Gorges Hydroelectric Dam was envisioned as China’s new symbol of power in a world that is driven by the latest innovations. However, today it is viewed around the world as a catastrophic environmental disaster that became a reality through corruption, improper planning, and complete disregard to pleas of warning. The dam was China’s answer to control annual flooding, a problem that in 1998 displaced 300 million Chinese who lived on the banks of the Yangtze River. It was also China’s tactic to increase international trade by deepening the Yangtze River to accommodate large cargo ships farther into Mainland China. Most importantly, it was China’s 24 billion dollar investment to decrease the annual burning of 50 million tons of coal with the goal of producing 10 percent of China’s total electricity needs by 2012 in response to the needs of its growing population. Despite these goals of economic growth and clean energy production, government officials ‘cut-corners’ during inspection to save money and refused to listen to warnings from engineers and environmentalists regarding the potential environmental devastation. “China decided to launch the project – then solve the problems along the way.” (John Byrne, the director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy)
However, China’s prosperous economy does not resolve its social issues, such as corruption, unequal distribution of wealth and deteriorating environment. Though these problems can be concealed temporarily with blossoming economic success, the root lies within the political institution and system of governance in China. Until corruption diminishes substantially, wealth is more equally distributed and stricter regulations about the environment are set, China will be the world’s economic powerhouse, but nothing more.
China has approximately 20% of the world’s population, which is around 1.3 billion people (Morris, 2009, p. 111). Also, China has become one of the worlds biggest manufacturing countries within 30 years (Fawssett, 2009, p. 27). However, such rapid development has come at a cost, which has created various environmental problems. Coincidentally, China has 16 cities on a list of the 20 worst polluted cities in the world (Fawssett, 2009, p. 15). Therefore, this essay will explain the reasons for China’s environmental problems, then evaluate the claim that the Chinese government and people, are tackling these environmental problems. First, crop farming techniques over the last hundred years, and their consequences will be explained. Followed by, how peoples choice in food has changed over the last hundred years, and how this indirectly affects the environment. Then, how a capitalist economy is linked to agriculture, and finally what the Chinese government and people are doing to tackle these problems.
In the eyes of those who matter the CCP remains a legitimate government. Before Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms, the workers and peasants were seen as the two most important groups in the Chinese social apparatus. However, as China’s middle class grows and develops, the former two groups have become less important to the prosperity of China. As such, the middle class’s environmental grievances are heard and acted upon while the workers’ employment issues and the peasants’ land theft and corruption problems are not. Unlike under Mao, the middle class is the primary support base of the CCP. As the primary beneficiaries of the CCP’s market reforms, the middle class’s impression of the Party determines whether the group continues to exist. Though all the grievances presented by the three groups demands all challenge Party rule, each group can be addressed differently due to their economic role in the current economy.
It’s become a common sight to behold. In other cities, popular must have fashion items include scarves, sunglasses and perhaps a striking pair of shoes. In Beijing however, surgeon masks have been “in style” for years and more recently more people have been sporting a can of fresh air; from Canada. The pollution has gotten so bad that people are willing to pay as much as 22.95 U.S dollars for a 10-liter bottle of “Pure Premium Oxygen’. “[The] first shipment of 500 bottles of fresh air were sold in four days,” said co-founder Moses Lam to the Telegraph. The government has faced increased domestic and international pressure to address the situation. Throughout the years, China’s industrialization and economic boom has brought millions of people out of poverty and skyrocketed their economy to first place, but in doing so, their environment has been seriously damaged. A new poll done by Gallup shows that 57% of Chinese adults believed that protection of the environment should be given top priority even at risk of slowing economic growth.
China's development is praised by the whole world. Its developments are not only in the economic aspect, but as well in its foreign affairs. Compared with other developed countries, China is a relatively young country. It began constructing itself in 1949. After 30 years of growth, company ownership had experienced unprecedented changes. Entirely, non-state-owned companies can now be more involved in sectors that used to be monopolized by state-owned companies.
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (1992) The Declaration of Rio on Environment and Development [Online] Available at: http://www.unep.org/Documents.multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=78&ArticleID=1163
China’s economy experienced a stunning growth the past couple decades and the future once looked promising. The methods that China used to grow could cause the downfall of its economic growth. What had been called the “Golden Years” could be over, which was a time of economic prosperity and growth. The growth could be affected from the political corruption, which can scare away foreign investment. Economic growth caused the housing bubble, which could bring down the economy. China’s growth also spurned the idea of protecting the environment that has caused pollution and environmental issues. The Chinese economy does not have a great economic future due to political corruption, the housing bubble, the pollution and environmental issues, and the loss of their comparative advantage.
Countries such as China and Japan need to enforce more powerful regulations on the amount of carbon emissions that they produce. China put in regulations just this last year and Japan postponed plans for a national regulations on carbon emissions, bowing to powerful business groups that warned of job losses as they compete against overseas rivals facing fewer emissions regulations. It’s not a good sign that large corporations can control how a nation regulates its environmental safety laws. China is finally planning to regulate their carbon emissions. This is long over due concerting that China ranks as the world’s number one carbon dioxide emitter, thanks in part to the massive amounts of coal the country burns. China currently builds a new coal-fired power plant at a rate of about one every week to ten days. The country’s coal burning levels are nearly on par with the rest of the world combined.