Exporting the pollution to Vietnam
As encouraging as these developments might seem, there is always the danger that they will simply result in China exporting its environmental problems to other parts of the globe in the same way Western nations have done. In fact, says Kerry Brown, Head of the Asia Programme at Chatham House, ‘it’s already happening’, with the ‘new Chinas’, like Vietnam and Thailand suffering the consequences.
‘What Chinese environmentalists will also point out is that this also plays out on a domestic level within China,’ says Lora-Wainwright, who has studied the effects of pollution on rural communities. ‘If you look at who bears the brunt of pollution in China, it’s often the poorest,’ she adds.
This is not, however, a simple case of industry imposing itself on poor farmers. ‘The pressure for development also comes from rural Chinese people, not just the government... they recognise that if they oppose pollution in their local area, they are less likely to reap the benefits of the investment that industry can bring with it,’ says Lora-Wainwright.
The Chinese government seems to be facing the impossible task of balancing the requirement of bringing wealth and prosperity to its people and meeting growing consumer demand, with preventing the destruction of its natural resources and the planet. As Gerth puts it, ‘The Chinese Communist Party is now riding the same tiger as the rest of the world.’