Ten Thousand Things
Multicultural Webfinds

"Ten Thousand Things" is a Buddhist expression representing the dynamic interconnection and simultaneous unity and diversity of everything in the universe.

Pollution Kills 500,000 (or More?) Annually in China – Video on Environmental Grassroots Protesters in Wuxi and Xiamen – Activists win in Hangzhou

Even more important than historic preservation issues, health and air quality issues are in critical need of attention in Chinese cities. Nearly two-thirds of Chinese cities suffered from air pollution last year and had no centralised sewage treatment facilities, the China Daily reported. And only 37.6 per cent of 585 cities surveyed had air quality "indicating a clean and healthy environment", down 7.3 percentage points from 2005, the paper said, according a report by the State Environmental Protection Agency. Thirty-nine cities, many scattered across the northern coal-rich province of Shanxi and the north-eastern rustbelt province of Liaoning, suffered "severe" air pollution.

In "China Blames Growing Social Unrest on Anger Over Pollution," the Guardian's Jonathan Watts reports widespread protests over pollution:

"The head of China’s environmental agency has blamed the rising number of riots, demonstrations and petitions across the country on public anger at pollution. Echoing the language of the Cultural Revolution, Zhou Shengxian called for a “struggle” against polluters, and said the public refused to accept the increasing degradation of the environment. His unusually outspoken comments underscore the frustration of state mandarins at local government officials who ignore environmental standards in order to attract investment, jobs and bribes.

"Breakneck growth has turned China into a huge environmental disaster area. A soon-to-be-published World Bank report says some 500,000 people die each year as a result of pollution."

The Portland Independent Media Center reports even higher numbers (1 million) and has links to related articles and a YouTube video (posted by DaughterofChina) on the water crisis in Wuxi, resulting from algae overgrowth from too much nitrogen.

My nonindustrial American city has a similar issue of algae overgrowth in its lakes from lawn fertilizer runoff because of a bizarre fixation with fluorescent green lawns. However, in Wuxi, industrial pollution was and is the cause. There was a run on bottled water in the city and people began bathing outdoors, in the rain. The video also discusses petrochemical pollution in Xiamen, state repression of information (a pattern we've see in Japan, the U.S., and elsewhere), and grassroots protests there on Children's Day. The government did respond and suspended their project. But the people want it stopped completely.

DaughterofChina, in a message reminiscent of grassroot activists' anti-pollution messages that began in Japan and the United States during the 1960's and 1970's, tells the world, in a gaiatsu-style message asking for support, that it's not fair when industrialists and the government pollute their homes in China, and reminds us that environmental degradation in China means environmental degradation for the world:

China is developing at the cost of the environment...
Things have value just because we think they have
But imagine one day, the desire of human beings exceeds what the world can afford...
So now stop it!
Stop pursuing the GDP!
Stop destroying nature!
My dear foreign friends,
Help to stop your capitalists earn their fortunes at the expense of our future
This is the only place we can struggle to survive.
Today, protect our children
Save Wuxi
Save Xiamen
We don't need GDP
We need Life
Today Save Our Children
Save China
Save the Planet

Previous ........... Next
Back to Ten Thousand Things index page...