Yangtze River Ecology

Oriental Outlook
December 19

In today's China, experts on water conservation seem to have become enemies with experts on ecological conservation. In 2013, discussion on the collapse of the ecological system in the Yangtze River once again triggered a conflict between the two groups.

As the biggest river of China and Asia, the Yangtze River is significant to the Chinese people. In recent years, the development of the river has reached something of a peak. This development is exemplified by series of large-scale projects, including the Three Gorges Dam, the South-North Water Transfer Project and the cascade development of the upper Jinsha River.

Against this backdrop, a group of ecological experts led by Cao Wenxuan, an academic with the Chinese Academy of Sciences who has long studied the ecological system of the Yangtze River, advocated a 10-year suspension of all human activities in the river. This moratorium is regarded as the last possible chance for the ecological protection of the Yangtze River.

Cao commented that ecological protection efforts over the past few years were not effective enough. For instance, the Chinese river dolphin, an ancient species which has lived in the Yangtze River for 25 million years and is protected by the country under first class protection, is now functionally extinct. Another species that is similarly under first class protection in the river—the Chinese paddlefish—has not been seen in the past 10 years.

As far as Cao sees it, the key to solving the ecological crisis in the Yangtze River is to balance the appeals of different interest groups.

Train Ticket Rush

People.com.cn
December 30

On December 28, China's railway system began selling train tickets for the upcoming Chinese New Year. The holiday season brings on an annual peak travel season that lasts 40 days, which will last from January 16 to February 24 this year. The official website for ordering tickets online, 12306.cn, once again became bombarded by traffic from millions of passengers across the country. As expected, the website's system failed to cope after tickets sales began, with the sudden burst in activity causing it to go down for a short period of time on December 28.

The website was launched in 2011 by the Ministry of Railways—which was restructured as the China Railway Corp. (CRC) in March 2013—aiming to make ticket purchasing faster and more convenient for rail passengers. However, their system doesn't have the resources necessary to cope. It has frequently seen itself the subject of criticism by Internet users when it experiences such technical difficulties. Drawing from the lessons of the past, the CRC immediately fixed the problems and restored the system to working order as quickly as possible this year. On top of this, the CRC has launched a mobile platform for ticket ordering.

However, online orders for train ticks still fail to meet demands. Fundamentally, problems plaguing online ordering should be attributed to inadequate capacity of China's rail network during the Chinese New Year. China needs to develop a comprehensive solution to resolve transport capacity issues occurring around festivals. For this reason, people should be more tolerant of the CRC and their efforts to improve the situation.

No Smoking for Officials

Beijing Times
December 30

The Central Government recently issued a mandate stipulating that officials are not allowed to smoke in public places. The government demands its own officials set an example for society through abiding by the smoking ban themselves.

In actuality, the ban on smoking in public was brought into action a few years back, though it has failed to have much of an impact. The latest measures look to enhance the effectiveness of the no smoking rule. In addition, the mandate aims to strengthen regulations for officials. In public places, the behavior of officials and public servants catch the attention of the common people. If officials do not follow regulations, neither will the common people. Furthermore, the credibility of the government will be damaged by such misconduct. Strict regulations for officials are therefore helpful for the country in improving the public environment and establishing the rule of law.

Performance Assessment Reform

Caixin Century
December 23

On December 9, 2013, the Central Government declared the reforming of the existing GDP-oriented performance assessment system for local government officials. Efforts toward ecological conservation and environmental protection will play a bigger part in assessments .

The reform aims to revise the existing system under which local government officials' working performance was assessed by their contributions to the economic growth rate. It is hoped that the reform will build up a correct concept of what makes for administrative achievements.

In China, GDP has played a major role in assessing local officials' performance for the past three decades. Recently, the situation was finally changed. The major reason for this amendment has been the alarming environmental deterioration experienced. The year 2013 marked the worst air quality ever recorded in China. By November 2013, the country's average hazy days were the most ever recorded in the past 52 years.

In addition to the deteriorating air quality, water pollution and soil pollution are also getting worse. All these factors together are sounding an alarm for the environment.

The good news is the reform has already been launched. Nevertheless, there are still challenges ahead. For instance, how to truly change the deep-rooted GDP worship?