Sinica Podcast
06.28.17
Top U.S. Diplomat David Rank on Why He Resigned to Protest Trump
from Sinica PodcastDavid Rank became the leading diplomat for one of America’s most important embassies during the transition when Iowa governor Terry Branstad formally succeeded former Montana senator Max Baucus as U.S. Ambassador to China on May 24, 2017. He soon...
‘We Had to Sue’: The Five Lawyers Taking on China’s Authorities over Smog
In an unprecedented legal case, a group of Chinese lawyers have charged the governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei with failing to protect their citizens from air pollution, which is linked to a third of all deaths in the country
In China, Pollution Fears Are Both Literal and Metaphorical
Last month, as China encountered some of its worst pollution yet, artists in Chengdu did something bold: They put smog-filtering cotton masks over the faces of statues representing ordinary urbanites that dot a centrally located shopping street...
China To Generate a Quarter of Electricity From Wind Power By 2030
China prides itself on being the world’s wind energy leader by a wide margin.....
Green Space
12.04.15
Green Activists Detained for ‘Prostitution,’ Yangtze Dolphins Rebound
Given that the Paris climate negotiations are underway, it is fair to start off with something about rising temperatures. This comes from a neat animation posted on Data Seeds’ WeChat Account that visualizes the warming trend within China’s borders...
Environment
09.03.15
The Yellow River: A History of China’s Water Crisis
from chinadialogueDuring the hot, dry month of August 1992, the farmers of Baishan village in Hebei province and Panyang village in Henan came to blows. Residents from each village hurled insults and rudimentary explosives at the other across the Zhang River—the...
Environment
02.23.15
Chinese Firms Must Act Decisively on Climate Change, Report Says
from chinadialogueChinese companies will need to cut direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of their operations by up to 2.7% a year if China is to stay on track with the level of action required to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius,...
Despite Persecution, Guardian of Lake Tai Spotlights China’s Polluters
ZHOUTIE, China — By autumn, the stench of Lake Tai and the freakish green glow of its waters usually fade with the ebbing of the summer heat, but this year is different. Standing on a concrete embankment overlooking a fetid, floating array of...
The China Africa Project
09.08.14
Cameroon’s Illegal Timber Finds a Market in China
Cameroon’s rain forests are rapidly vanishing due to widespread corruption, according to a new report from...
Environment
02.28.14
Citizen Sues Local Government for Failing to Curb Air Pollution
from chinadialogueAlthough residents in Northern China are no strangers to dirty air, a man from the smog-enshrouded Hebei province has decided to take the local environmental authority to court for failing to control air pollution.
Li Guixin, a resident in...
Mass Slaughter of Vulnerable Shark Species in China, Wildlife Group Says
600 whale sharks are being slaughtered annually at a factory near Wenzhou for foreign and domestic use.
Environment
12.05.13
Daoism, Confucianism, and the Environment
from chinadialogueIn September, an unusual environmental organization was launched in one of the most ancient and significant sites in China—the Songyang Academy, Dengfeng, Henan. Founded in the eleventh century AD, this was one of the four Confucian Academies of...
Can China Clean Up Fast Enough?
China is going through an industrial-powered growth spurt and the urge to get rich outweighs the desire for clean air. However, China is beginning to clean up its act.
Kunming Pollution Protest Is Tip Of Rising Chinese Environmental Activism
The frequency of protests is rising as China’s increasingly affluent and middle-class society becomes more aware of environmental issues. This protest in Kunming is the second large protest in a week over environmental concerns....