Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom - World Press ...

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