By Goshi Sato
Visitors to China who take in the mushrooming skyscrapers,
luxury cars and fashionably attired citizens can easily forget that
they are in a developing nation. Because of China's economic growth
some Japanese are suggesting Japan should cut its official
development assistance.
However, even a cursory review of China's environmental problems
makes it clear that the step would have bad and far-reaching
consequences for Japan.
Take, for example, the fact that this past winter, 1,400 coal
boilers were used to supply hot water to homes for central heating
in Beijing. Many of them are not fitted with desulfurization
systems so are discharging considerable amounts of sulfur dioxide
and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. This contributes to high
levels of air pollution.
In Beijing, the air quality is not satisfactory on more than 100
days a year. In fact, on the day in February I visited Beijing to
look into the environmental situation, the air was so thick with
photochemical smog that I found myself coughing as I walked the
streets.
A cogeneration plant that uses gas boilers is now under
construction in Zhongguancun, an electronic zone. When completed,
it will replace more than 100 small coal boilers. This is expected
to cut annual coal consumption by 300,000 tons, emissions of sulfur
dioxide by 1,755 tons, nitrogen oxides by 1,229 tons and soot dust
by 2,103 tons.
The main part of the construction cost of the plant is covered
by yen loans. The yen loan is an ultra-long-term,
ultra-low-interest means of assistance that the Japanese government
provides to developing nations as part of the economic cooperation
provided for in bilateral agreements.
For several years, Japan has been giving China yen loans to put
toward important environmental initiatives. They are being used to
install desulfurization and dust collection systems at ironworks,
to build water supply systems and to construct sewerage
networks.
Currently, 60 environmental conservation projects funded by yen
loans are under way in China.
However, in 2004, before a summit meeting between then Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Laos,
Koizumi said it was time Japan withdrew the loans. Since then, the
Japanese government has decided to stop extending them to China
from 2008.
It is true that Beijing and other local governments in China
must be responsible for dealing with their own domestic
environmental problems. But developing countries will always be
inclined to attach greater importance to economic development than
environmental protection.
This is clear from the experience of Japan, which also generated
enormous amounts of pollution during its period of high economic
growth. To solve China's environmental problems, outside
technology, experience and funds are needed.
Moreover, pollution transcends national borders. Polluted air
and water reach Japanese shores across the sea. The solution to the
Chinese environmental problem is important not only for Japan but
also the global community. Japan should continue to provide yen
loans tied to environmental projects or come up with other support
measures to replace them.
The author is an assistant with Kyushu University's faculty
of agriculture. He specializes in environmental economics.
(China Daily via The Asahi Shimbun, April 10,
2007)
