Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...
Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...
Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...
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<strong>Beijing</strong> <strong>Olympics</strong> <strong>2008</strong>: <strong>Winning</strong> <strong>Press</strong> <strong>Freedom</strong><br />
43<br />
“Guaranteeing good air quality in <strong>Beijing</strong> during the Olympic Games” is the objective set<br />
by the Chinese Communist government. That objective is stated far more specifically than<br />
many planned goals previously set by this government - already a sign of progress. But if<br />
one analyzes that objective, one finds that it is for a small area and for a short time and<br />
that the criteria are not very exacting.<br />
The area concerned is <strong>Beijing</strong>, whose surface is 16,800 square kilometers, The period is<br />
that of the Games and will therefore be less than a month, or two, if one includes the<br />
Para-<strong>Olympics</strong>. The criteria are that the air should be good, or more precisely, defined as<br />
good, that is that the four indexes meet national standards and WHO norms.<br />
China and the WHO have set a standard for air quality at the lowest level for human<br />
health. If that standard is not met, air quality is to be ruled as not meeting the norms. If<br />
the standard is met exactly, one might say that the air quality does indeed match the<br />
norms, but it would still be far from good.<br />
The lowering of values in Chinese society as a whole follows the lowering of values for the<br />
Chinese Communist Party elite. These include not cheating on one’s wife, not using<br />
narcotics, not gambling and not accepting commissions or tips of more than 10,000 yuan<br />
(about $1,400). It is a code of conduct applicable to all ordinary citizens. Thus, the<br />
standard-setters consider that if the air quality merely meets the minimal norms, that<br />
would mean that it is good. That approach is in strict keeping with Chinese social doctrine.<br />
Originally, it was a goal to normalize air pollution. The idea was that by Year X, the<br />
Chinese capital would enjoy Y days of clear blue skies. For example, in 2007 the number<br />
of blue-sky days in <strong>Beijing</strong> was 246 – 64.7 per cent of the year, surpassing the planned<br />
objective. But how is blue sky defined? It is considered that a dark blue sky is a blue sky,<br />
but what about a cloudy sky? One could define a dark sky as “gray,” but one could also<br />
call it “blue-gray.” One could even call it a “gray-blue.” In August 2006, when I visited<br />
from Germany, friends said we were lucky to have specially good weather because it had<br />
rained a lot before our arrival in <strong>Beijing</strong>, clearing the air. But I thought the sky was dark,<br />
and the sun looked out of focus, like an oncoming car’s headlight on a foggy night. I only<br />
saw a really blue sky again upon my return to Germany.<br />
To meet the objective of “guaranteeing good air quality in <strong>Beijing</strong> during the Olympic<br />
Games,” the Chinese government has already invested 120 billion yuan. That sum is<br />
obviously not counted in the budget of the Games. It exceeds the government’s pledged<br />
investment budget and the projected profits.<br />
To deal with the problem of air pollution in <strong>Beijing</strong>, the government has adopted several<br />
measures, some of which involve long-term air quality improvement; others are merely<br />
short-term.<br />
The first category of measures consists mainly of moving polluting factories and<br />
businesses from the city center, of adopting heat exchange generators, of converting from<br />
coal to electricity for cooking and heating, of imposing use of air or particle filters on<br />
automobiles, of increasing the capital’s green spaces, etc. Amongst those measures there