A public apology from China is an exceptionally rare event. But as a slick of toxic water makes its way along the half-frozen Songhua River towards the Russian city of Khabarovsk, the country’s leadership is saying sorry. This is not, however, to be read as a sign of an imminent end to the secretive culture that for days attempted to cover up one of China’s worst ever pollution spills into its waterways.
The November 13th discharge of some 100 tonnes of benzene and nitrobenzene from a petrochemical plant in the north-eastern province of Jilin could end up causing political damage as well as physical harm.