Censorship Vault: Beijing Internet Instructions Series (27)
In partnership with the China Copyright and Media blog, CDT is adding the “Beijing Internet...
Songhua River
Censorship Vault: Beijing Internet Instructions Series (7)
In partnership with the China Copyright and Media blog, CDT is adding the “Beijing Internet...
Censorship Vault: Beijing Internet Instructions Series (6)
In partnership with the China Copyright and Media blog, CDT is adding the “Beijing Internet...
Photo: The frozen Songhua River in Harbin, by Jonas in China
The frozen Songhua River in Harbin, by Jonas in China
Xie Overcame Toxic Spill to Become China’s Top Climate Official
Bloomberg profiles Xie Zhenhua, former head of China’s state environmental protection agency and now the country’s chief negotiator in Copenhagen: Xie, who resigned after an explosion at a PetroChina Co. plant...
Chinese Eco-detective Treads Lightly
From Christian Science Monitor: “Can you smell something?” Zhang Yadong stands on the banks of a murky stream and wrinkles his nose at the salty odor. The Chinese government has promised for years to clean up this section of the...
Sunday Photo: Rime by the Songhua – Xinhua
Winter has unquestionably arrived in northern China. According to weather data from Xinhua, temperatures in some northern areas have fallen by as much as 14 degrees centigrade in recent weeks. Bitter though it may be, the icy temperatures have at least one advantage: The arrival of rime or wusong (ÈõæÂáá ) on the banks of […]
Maximum Fine over China Pollution – BBC
From BBC News: China’s environmental watchdog has handed the maximum possible fine to a PetroChina subsidiary for a toxic river spill which cut off water to millions. Jilin Petrochemical was ordered to pay 1m yuan ($125,000, ¬£64,000) for its pollution of the Songhua River in 2005, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. A blast at its […]
Big Bucks to be Earmarked to Clean Up Songhua – Xinhua
From Xinhua’s Heilongjiang channel, translated by CDT (photo: residents in Harbin waiting for water delivery after Songhua chemical spill): Beijing has ratified a proposal to clean up the water systems of Songhua River, involving key cities along the river such as Harbin (ÂìàÂ∞îʪ®), Qiqihar (ÈΩêÈΩêÂìàÂ∞î), Daqing (§ßÂ∫Ü), Jiamusi (‰Ω≥Êú®ÊñØ), Mudanjiang (Áâ°‰∏πʱü), Changchun (ÈïøÊò•) and Jilin […]
Xie Zhenhua’s “Unsystematic” Return and Other Curious Moves
The opinion pages of Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis Daily live by a credo that one of its editors has phrased thus: “Almost anything can be written. It just depends on how you write it.” That may or may not explain the sharp turn Southern Metropolis takes with the case of Xie Zhenhua’s political resurrection this week. […]
Second toxic wave in Russia river – BBC News
From BBC News (link): A second wave of pollution from last year’s toxic chemical spill in China is affecting rivers in Russia’s Far East, according to environmental experts. They say chemicals trapped in a frozen river during the winter are now being released by the spring thaw. People in the city of Khabarovsk and other […]
China to spend $1.2bn on cleaning polluted river – Andrew Yeh
From the Financial Times (link) Beijing said on Thursday it would commit Rmb10bn ($1.2bn) towards cleaning up last year’s chemical spill in the northeastern Songhua River, one of the worst environmental disasters in China since the founding of the communist state in 1949. The State Council, China’s cabinet, approved a plan for the next five […]
China detains man for spreading pollution rumours – Reuters
From Reuters (link), via Peking Duck: China, which this week warned officials they would be punished for covering up pollution, has detained after he sent text messages telling people of a new case of water pollution, media reported on Thursday. Zhou Qinghai was detained by police for “reporting faulty alarms and making chaos” in Mudanjiang […]
China water supplies: A continuing threat – Jim Yardley
From the New York Times, via the International Herald Tribune: Two recent chemical spills have forced officials in different regions of China to take emergency precautions to protect water supplies for millions of people – the latest examples of the environmental and public health threats posed by industrial pollution. The new spills were reported in […]
Cleaning up Songhua River a priority – Xinhua
From Xinhua – English: Top Chinese environmental protection officials have listed water pollution control in the Songhua River’s drainage area as one of the key water pollution control and prevention projects in the country. It is soliciting suggestions for a five-year plan concerning the control of the river’s pollution from 2006 to 2010. A stretch […]
Photo: Emergency workers preparing to measure how fast the water of the Amur River is flowing Thursday in Khabarovsk, via The Moscow Times.
Emergency workers measuring the water of the Amur River in Khabarovsk, via The Moscow Times.
Spill Reaches City, Water Called Fine – Yuras Karmanau
From AP, via The Moscow Times: A toxic spill that poisoned drinking water for millions of Chinese flowed into the city of Khabarovsk on Thursday, but authorities said the concentration of pollutants was no longer dangerous. Residents, however, remained worried, and Governor Viktor Ishayev appealed to them “to keep calm.” “We have done everything we […]
Russia, China water down problems – Sergei Blagov
From The Asia Times Online: As a toxic chemical slick that originated in China’s Songhua River flows toward the border with Russia, officials of both countries are already working together to tackle the spill. The China Daily newspaper quoted sources from Heilongjiang province Environment Protection Bureau as saying that the slick was expected overnight Friday […]
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