Table Of ContentAdvances in Asian Human-Environmental Research
Hidefumi Imura
Environmental
Issues in China
Today
A View from Japan
Environmental Issues in China Today
Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research
Series Editor
Prof. Marcus Nüsser
South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Editorial Board
Prof. Eckart Ehlers, University of Bonn, Germany
Prof. Harjit Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Prof. Hermann Kreutzmann, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Prof. Ken Hewitt, Waterloo University, Canada
Prof. Urs Wiesmann, University of Bern, Switzerland
Prof. Sarah J. Halvorson, University of Montana, USA
Dr. Daanish Mustafa, King’s College London, UK
Aims and Scope
The series aims at fostering the discussion on the complex relationships between
physical landscapes, natural resources, and their modifi cation by human land use in
various environments of Asia. It is widely acknowledged that human-environment-
interactions become increasingly important in area studies and development research,
taking into account regional differences as well as bio-physical, socioeconomic and
cultural particularities.
The book series seeks to explore theoretic and conceptual refl ection on dynamic
human-environment systems applying advanced methodology and innovative
research perspectives. The main themes of the series cover urban and rural
landscapes in Asia. Examples include topics such as land and forest degradation,
glaciers in Asia, mountain environments, dams in Asia, medical geography,
vulnerability and mitigation strategies, natural hazards and risk management
concepts, environmental change, impacts studies and consequences for local
communities. The relevant themes of the series are mainly focused on geographical
research perspectives of area studies, however there is scope for interdisciplinary
contributions.
For further volumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/8560
Hidefumi Imura
Environmental Issues
in China Today
A View from Japan
Hidefumi Imura
Yokohama City University
Yokohama , Japan
CHUUGOKU NO KANKYOU MONDAI IMA NANIGA OKITEIRUNOKA
© 2007 Hidefumi IMURA
All rights reserved
Original Japanese edition published in 2007 by KAGAKUDOJIN
ISSN 1879-7180 ISSN 1879-7199 (electronic)
ISBN 978-4-431-54119-6 ISBN 978-4-431-54120-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-54120-2
Springer Tokyo Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013942183
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Preface
The Chinese economy has been making remarkable progress in recent decades. As
of 2012, present-day China somewhat resembles Japan in the midst of the high
economic growth of the 1970s or in the following period of the bubble economy in
the 1980s. People’s standard of living has improved, and there is an emerging
wealthy class who own cars and second homes. What interests people in that eco-
nomic class are condominiums and trips abroad. While the country maintains the
Communist Party regime, the philosophy of socialism no longer dominates people’s
thinking. Business people in coastal megacities, which have been leading China’s
economic growth, are eagerly committed to developing new businesses. Such privi-
lege, however, reaches only a part of the whole population or people close to the
ruling Communist Party and state-owned enterprises, and in fact the majority of
people living in inner areas in the western regions and in villages remain relatively
poor.
We may consider that environmental issues in China shed light on the contradic-
tions and imbalances in Chinese society. China has become the second largest coun-
try in terms of GDP, having overtaken Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It
is also the largest contributor to CO emissions, which are considered to be the major
2
cause of climate change in the coming centuries. As the world’s factory of the
twenty-fi rst century, the country is so eager to manufacture goods that it seems deter-
mined not to be seriously concerned with the fact that such industrial activities are
polluting the air and water. In addition, environmental problems originating in China
such as photochemical smog, acid rain, PM 2.5, and yellow dust affect our daily life
in Japan. Government offi cials speak of the importance of protecting the environ-
ment and conserving resources, and laws, institutions, and administrative bodies
have been created toward that end, but they exist only nominally, and the environ-
mental management system as a whole does not function effectively.
What should we do to encourage our neighbor China to take the necessary
countermeasures? Japan’s experience in combating severe industrial pollution
should be benefi cial to China. This, precisely, was a reason Japan promoted bilateral
v
vi Preface
environmental cooperation with China, using a large amount of offi cial develop-
ment assistance (ODA) funds during the 1990s. In the new century, however, with
the increasing government defi cit, the conventional system under which Japan, with
its fi nancial power, provided assistance to China is no longer feasible. Meanwhile,
political tensions between China and Japan have been heightened owing to the ter-
ritorial issues surrounding the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
Looking at our neighboring country driven by dynamic energy, we of the baby-
boomer generation in Japan—whose economy now is, by contrast, slowing down in
this era of an aging society—naturally remember the high economic growth period
that we once experienced. Japan enjoyed rapid economic growth at an annual rate
of nearly 10 % in the late 1960s to the early 1970s, but at the same time, industrial
pollution issues were reported in the media almost every day. Even though we wit-
nessed both devastating damage to human health and radical student protest move-
ments across the country, society at that time was somewhat overwhelmed by a
strange kind of energy. It could be that people became somewhat irrational as they
saw their income increasing literally every year. Then in 1973, our economic growth
was suddenly struck by the “oil shock,” and from that time Japanese society began
its transformation into a matured state, providing suggestions for the future direc-
tion of China.
China and Japan are geographically separated only by a relatively narrow stretch
of water. China’s cultural infl uence on Japan has been tremendous, including lan-
guage and writing systems, religion, philosophy, and technology. The relationship
between the two countries has been generally peaceful although there have been
some wars between them in their long history. The author, like many Japanese peo-
ple, pays respect to the Chinese as our teachers. But Japan’s invasions and war
crimes in China during the fi rst half of the last century and their aftereffects, China’s
territorial disputes with its neighbors, and the expansion of China’s military budget
are casting clouds over current Sino-Japanese relations.
Under these circumstances, what we could do is to lead our neighbor to realize
that it is a part of the environmental community of East Asia, so that it will take
environmental measures that meet its increasing economic power in harmony with
Japan and other Asian countries. But how? Based on such concerns, this book
attempts to picture environmental issues in China from a holistic point of view.
Environmental problems are woven into the entirety of human endeavor, so it is
impossible to discuss them in isolation. An environmental problem occurring today
at one location does not occur independently of anything else; it is connected with
politics, economy, society, culture, and history of that whole country and, in fact,
the whole world. In this book, my intention was to write about environmental prob-
lems in China—not simply about the phenomena we see on the surface, but in a way
that the relationship of these problems with a variety of background factors would
come into view. Because of this approach, there may be sections of the book where
I describe something that may at fi rst glance seem to have little connection with
environmental problems. This was my own attempt to portray the issues through
many different lenses, using a three-dimensional, bird’s-eye view and perspective.
Preface vii
In 1995, I coedited a Japanese book the title of which, in translation, was
Environmental Problems in China . It was an attempt to present an overview of the
environmental problems in China at that time. But in the ensuing 10 years or more,
the situation in China and political and economic relations between Japan and China
changed dramatically, and I published another book in 2007. Subsequently, I wished
to publish this material in English. Again, at this point I cannot avoid realizing the
many changes that have occurred in the last 5 years or so, and I have tried to use as
much new data as possible in this English version. Whatever the case, however, no
matter how fresh the information is at the time of publication, in a short time it will
be out-of-date. This is especially true of a country like China, where change occurs
so rapidly. Within a few years, revisions will become necessary, but I hope that this
book helps readers deepen their understanding of current environmental issues in
China, especially in the context of the Japan–China relationship. Despite my best
efforts, I am keenly aware of the diffi culties in covering everything in one single
volume. My lack of knowledge and understanding in some areas left me with many
issues for which I could not provide adequate coverage.
The sources of the data and information in this book include statistics published
by the Chinese government, publications by other authors, academic papers, news-
paper articles, and television programs, as well as my own notes and recollections
of fi eld studies. For statistical data in this book, I tried to use the latest fi gures avail-
able as of 2012, but wherever that was not possible, I used older data.
In closing, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Michio Hashimoto,
Kazuo Hishida, Senro Imai, Hideaki Koyanagi, Hitoshi Kometani, Miao Chang,
and many others, who taught me so much about environmental problems in China
and the factors behind them. For English translation, I am very grateful to Randal
Helten and Kazuko Watanabe for their valuable help and advice.
Yokohama, Japan Hidefumi Imura
Contents
1 Environmental Problems: Borderless ..................................................... 1
1.1 Continental Effects ............................................................................. 1
1.1.1 Japan’s Photochemical Smog and PM 2.5:
Now Made in China? ............................................................. 1
1.1.2 Yellow Dust and Acid Rain .................................................... 3
1.1.3 Jet Stream ............................................................................... 4
1.1.4 Marine Pollution..................................................................... 5
1.2 Resources: Essential for China’s Development ................................. 6
1.2.1 Recycled Resources: Wherefore Art Thou? ........................... 6
1.2.2 China’s Transformation into a Resource-Hungry Giant......... 7
1.2.3 The Challenge of Climate Change ......................................... 7
1.3 The Path for China–Japan Environmental Cooperation .................... 10
1.3.1 Economic Globalization and Environmental Issues .............. 10
1.3.2 East Asian Environmental Community .................................. 11
1.3.3 China–Japan Environmental Cooperation.............................. 12
References ................................................................................................... 13
2 Environmental Issues in China: An Overview from Japan .................. 15
2.1 China–Japan Relations in Transition ................................................. 15
2.1.1 So Far and Yet So Near .......................................................... 15
2.1.2 Restoration of Diplomatic Relations ...................................... 16
2.1.3 Modern China, Modern Environmental Issues ...................... 17
2.2 Understanding the Basic Issues ......................................................... 17
2.2.1 Vastness and Diversity ........................................................... 17
2.2.2 Land........................................................................................ 19
2.2.3 Regional Government Structure ............................................. 20
2.2.4 Inland and Coastal Areas: Big Disparities ............................. 21
2.2.5 The Rise of Heavy Industry ................................................... 21
2.2.6 Reforms .................................................................................. 23
2.2.7 Economic Disparities ............................................................. 24
ix
