China has put huge amounts of effort and resources into development, improving conditions in cities, and raising the collective living standards. As a result of this burst of development, Chinese are now more wealthy, but cities are covered with a dome of thick smog. China has noted the high costs paid by other countries worldwide in the restoration of the environment, cities such as London used to have their own domes of smog and soot; but China can’t simply shut down all the factories, or give up the manufacturing core of its economy.
The strangest part is that blue skies are always seen on days were there are important government activities, or international conferences in the area. People speculate the government may have a huge unknown environmental control apparatus which can be switched on and off as needed.
Many buy breath masks and tolerate the grey skies and high 2.5pm. Others seek to change the situation through the few legal avenues available. Chinese lawyers from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have united to initiate a series of administrative actions against the municipal governments of Beijing and Tianjin and the provincial government of Hebei, suing these governments on the theory of non-performance in regards to an obligation to provide clean air.
According to Chinese laws as to clean air, a local government is responsible for supervising air quality. Therefore, such local governments seem to the right party to sue as regards the overwhelming problem of smog. One citizen traveling in Zhengzhou for a business trip, sued the local government to compensate him for costs of his breathing masks while in the city.
Such lawsuits are breaking legal ground in China, and are hot topics amoung Chinese legal professionals, and ordinary citizens alike. These individuals are admired for their efforts to protect their own rights and the environment in new ways and the courage to do so.
As China lawyers, Lehman, Lee & Xu encourage people everywhere to be aware of legal rights, and to take action to use appropriate legal channels to protect those rights. United action will work to improve everyone’s future.