Particulates matter

[Van!]

Pollution

Particulates matter

An online video whips up public debate about smog

Mar 7th 2015 | BEIJING | From the print edition

GRUMBLING about the semi-permanent smog that cloaks Chinese cities has grown louder in recent years. But discussion has been muted by the reluctance of officials to wag fingers too often at large state-owned enterprises (SOEs), or the government itself, for their roles in fermenting the toxic brew. That changed on February 28th with the release of an online video-documentary pointing precisely at these culprits. Within days it had attracted 200m views and raised the temperature of public debate.

Intriguingly, government officials and state-controlled media have been among those singing the praises of the 104-minute video, “Under the Dome”. It was made independently by Chai Jing, a former state-television journalist, and was released on busy websites, including that of the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, People’s Daily. The new environment minister, Chen Jining, praised Ms Chai and said the film reminded him of “Silent Spring”, a book published in 1962 by an American author, Rachel Carson, which exposed the dangers of DDT and led to a ban on the pesticide.

Such signs of official backing for a work that blames state entities and the government itself for a huge public-health problem has led to speculation about politics at work. Did some leaders hope it would encourage green reforms in the powerful energy industry? The timing of the release, shortly before the start of the national legislature’s annual session, may not be coincidental. Many bosses of SOEs, as well as senior officials, serve as lawmakers.

The film includes poignant individual stories: children saying they have never seen stars or white clouds and only rarely a blue sky. Ms Chai shares her own story of giving birth to a child with a benign tumour. She cites the estimate of a former minister that 500,000 Chinese die prematurely every year from air pollution.

The party’s propaganda overlords—a deeply conservative bunch—clearly have mixed feelings. Within a couple of days of the video’s appearance, references to it in the official media began diminishing: a strong hint that censors had decided to muffle the brouhaha it had sparked. Yawei Liu, of America’s Carter Centre, says some officials may be worried that the video will inspire others to use similar techniques to mobilise public opinion. There is no sign that anyone in the leadership wants to loosen the party’s control of the message any further.

From the print edition: China