What Colour's the sky?

Trip Start Oct 05, 2004
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Trip End Jun 30, 2005


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Flag of China  ,
Thursday, November 11, 2004

After a month in Dongguan, I've not seen any rain but I've not seen a lot of the sun (at least not as I knew it in a previous life). The sky is yellow and I can only assume that there is blue lying beyond it. Rumour has it a star was spotted recently - or maybe it was a low flying plane after all. Factories abound in the city, vehicles run on leaded fuel and their maintenance appears to be minimal and private car use is rapidly rising. It's good for manufacturers and distributors of face masks although these aren't widely in use.

It sounds depressing. Well it is, but pollution is a global problem. China's government has a stated primary objective of promoting economic growth and addressing environmental issues as and when it's possible. Like it or not, that's understandable, but the global implications of that policy from what is set to become the new economic superpower on the planet are immense. Arguably, the Chinese are far more conscious of the environmental implications of modern industrialisation than the West ever was. Indeed, China is putting some of the most comprehensive environmental legislation ever conceived in place although apparently it's totally unworkable and is primarily intended as a negotiating tool. Economically, it will prove a useful one if Western countries continue the pattern of offshoring their production facilities into what is in reality a largely unregulated operating environment.

I'm no green, eco-warrior but it's frustrating to contemplate that societies don't seem able to learn from each others' pasts and skip phases of destructive evolution. Is it intrinsic in the self-definition of human beings or nations that they reserve the right to do as somebody else did or does? It's a striking thought that Man's individuality - if that's what it is - could ultimately destroy him!
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