People walk on a bridge in front of the financial district of Pudong, which is covered in smog, during a polluted day in Shanghai, China November 28, 2018.
Attempts by Chinese companies and local governments to conceal pollution violations are "extremely stupid" and will not succeed, China's environment ministry said on Friday after a spate of cover-ups in the country.
Now in the fifth year of its war on pollution, China has struggled to enforce its environmental laws and Beijing wants market regulators, graft watchdogs, police and the courts to play a bigger role in punishing polluters.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) has named and shamed several local jurisdictions and companies over the past month for deliberate acts of deception designed to hide compliance failures.
This month, one firm deliberately misreported the spilling of nearly 70 tonnes of petrochemicals into the sea at the Quanzhou port in southeast Fujian province, the local government said in a statement, adding that seven company workers have been arrested and several officials dismissed.
Chinese media on Friday hit back at a U.S. academic report which urged the United States to engage in "tit-for-tat" retaliation to counter what it said was China's widening campaign for influence which threatened to undermine democratic values.The 213-page report, published by the U.S. think tank Hoover Institution on Thursday, said China's ruling Communist Party had in recent years "significantly accelerated" both the investment and intensity of its global influence-seeking efforts.The report was penned by a group of more than 30 prominent Western experts, such as Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York, many whom had long advocated for closer engagement with China.The sharper tone comes as President Xi Jinping has increased repression at home and adopted what the report describes as an "increasingly forward and aggressive posture on the global stage".Trump says 'long way to go' on tariffs and ChinaChina's state-run Global Times said the report's threat assessment was unfounded."We believe the Chinese infiltration into the United States the report describes does not match up with China's objective aspirations," the newspaper said in an editorial.The report, however, found that there was now a "surprising" level of bi-partisan scepticism about China's intentions and a willingness to push back against its "predatory" policies."China is exploiting America's openness in order to advance its aims on a competitive playing field," it said. "Once largely a form of economic competition, China's recent turn to military and political rivalry with the United States has changed the whole equation of the bilateral relationship."US farm sector stockpiles Chinese chemicals before scheduled tariffsIn order to counter China's activities, the report makes a series of suggestions for United States lawmakers, institutions and businesses that it said could help ensure "transparency, integrity and reciprocity".It recommends denying U.S. visas to Chinese journalists and having scholars affiliated with the Chinese government-run "Thousand Talents Programme" registered as a foreign agent.The report also lauded recent legislation that strengthened the review process by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency panel that assesses the national security implications of investment.Legislation passed in June by U.S. President Donald Trump was a "substantial improvement" that closed loopholes that China had been exploiting, it said.China hopes for positive results from US talks at G20The authors also included a note of caution that China's efforts should not be exaggerated."China has not sought to interfere in a national election in the United States or to sow confusion or inflame polarisation in our democratic discourse the way Russia has done," it said.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said it was their custom not to give detailed comment on think tank reports, but he said China welcomed U.S. companies, media, students and think tanks to come to the country."We hope that the United States, as the world's most powerful country, can open both arms and welcome companies, the media, think tanks and students from all countries, including China, to go to the United States," he told reporters.
China rejects U.S. academic report calling for retaliatory action
"Any attempt to conceal the truth is extremely stupid and in vain," environment ministry spokesman Liu Youbin said at a news briefing in Beijing when asked about the port incident.
"The relevant company is directly responsible for the incident, but the local government also didn't do a good job dealing with the emergency, especially in disclosing relevant information," he added.
China is in the middle of a new campaign to curb winter smog, and forced at least 46 cities this week to adopt emergency measures to cut emissions after air quality deteriorated across northern and eastern regions.
Despite pressure from Beijing, many growth-obsessed local governments turn a blind eye to polluting enterprises they consider vital sources of jobs and economic growth.
This month, state media reported that officials in eastern China's Shandong province were caught throwing chemicals worth 46 million yuan ($6.63 million) into a river to disguise pollution levels.
In Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, officials were accused of trying to cover a one-kilometre (0.62 mile) section of a river with tarpaulin to hide water pollution from inspectors, according to a state media report last month.
Liu said environmental inspections enable local governments to promote "high-quality economic development" and the scrutiny will continue.
"We will not ease supervision and will continue to carry out inspections," he said.