Chinese officials reportedly shut some businesses as pollution soars
By Stuart Leavenworth
February 24, 2014

BEIJING — China’s capital region remained swathed Monday in a cloud of choking smog, prompting a rise in hospital visits and sales of indoor air purifiers and reports of rare industry shutdowns.

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection on Sunday dispatched inspection teams to fine and shut down polluting industries in the region, and there were reports that regulators had idled a major concrete kiln and other factories outside Beijing.

But the shutdowns did little to end a four-day bout of heavy particulate smog. Nor are they likely to ameliorate skepticism among residents and outside experts about China’s commitment to environmental protection.

Alex Wang, who teaches law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said China had extensive environmental laws on the books and an increasingly sophisticated ability to monitor sources of smog.

“The problem is not a lack of knowledge about pollution sources,” said Wang, who previously headed the Beijing office of the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Rather, the problem is that environmental regulators lack sufficient authority to deter polluters from violating the law.”
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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/02/24/21...tedly-shut.html


The Silver Lining for the Chinese:
China: Smog can defeat U.S. weapons
Naval chief says laser 'only works when weather is good
February, 24, 2014

Zitat

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(International Business Times) – Thick smog is the best defence against US laser weapons, a Chinese military chief has declared on national television.

Zhang Zhaozhong, the Navy Major General for the People’s Liberation Army drew massive criticism when he made the statement on CCTV’s Haixia Liang’an (Cross-Straits) current affairs programme, adding that lasers were “most afraid of smog”.

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http://www.wnd.com/2014/02/china-smog-ca...at-u-s-weapons/