Chinese Media Change Tune on Pollution

Article Excerpt

BY LAURIE BURKITT AND BRIAN SPEGELE

BEIJING?The worst air pollution in Beijing in recent memory has prompted an unprecedented outpouring of candor and criticism from state-run media, an implicit acknowledgment by the government that the problem has reached crisis levels and threatens a political backlash.

Official propaganda has often portrayed the dismal air quality in Chinese cities as the price to pay for rapid economic development. But faced with choking smog in the capital so bad that it has cut visibility to 200 meters, disrupted flights at the airport and closed some highways, state media have changed their tune.

China Central Television made poisonous air the ...

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Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324595704578241640520226304.html?mod=rss_asia_whats_news

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