Punishment with an ‘iron hand’ for China’s polluters
Print Edition
PRESIDENT Xi Jinping yesterday promised a tough approach to polluters in smog-choked China.
“We are going to punish, with an iron hand, any violators who destroy the ecology or environment, with no exceptions,” Xi said in Beijing, while reviewing the government’s work report with National People’s Congress lawmakers from east China’s Jiangxi Province.
He asked citizens to protect the environment as if they were caring for their own lives as he articulated his resolve to curb widespread pollution in the world’s second largest economy.
“Protecting the environment is ensuring livelihoods,” Xi said.
His remarks echoed statements in the government’s work report that demonstrated the determination of the world’s most populous country to cut pollution.
“Environmental pollution is a blight on people’s quality of life and a trouble that weighs on their hearts,” it said. “We must fight it with all our might.”
The report also said that the world’s biggest emitter will cut the intensity of carbon dioxide by at least 3.1 percent this year.
Soil, water and air pollution have remained hot topics at China’s annual sessions of the top legislature and political advisory body.
China declared a “war against pollution” last year, calling for tougher regulations over polluting industries.
“Problems such as administration loopholes, weak public awareness and lack of supervision still exist,” said Qin Dahe, an academic with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
He suggested long-term planning with a focus on the promotion of green techniques.
Xi also promised to advance the battle against corruption, to “pluck the rotten trees, cure the sick trees and straighten the crooked trees.”
Supervision over officials, especially Party officials, should be strengthened, he said.
Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, took part in a discussion with lawmakers from the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions.
Zhang said that the Party’s Central Committee hoped that the region will be able to carry out universal suffrage in the election of Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017 according to the city’s Basic Law and decisions made by the NPC Standing Committee.
That has been the Central Committee’s consistent stance on Hong Kong and also the expectations of Hong Kong compatriots, he said.
Top political adviser Yu Zhengsheng urged the enhancement of the overall strength and competitiveness of the country’s culture when he took part in a panel discussion with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee members from the cultural and art sector.
Wang Qishan, head of the Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, called for the advancement of the anti-corruption battle and the building of Party work styles and a clean government.
He told NPC deputies from Fujian Province that supervision over officials and the accountability mechanism should be highlighted this year.
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