China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Environmental commitments
After special environmental inspections by the top environment watchdog exposed some serious issues, seven provincial-level governments, including Beijing and Shanghai, made public their rectification plans. Most of them have set up a leading group with their top leader acting as the head to supervise the rectification work, and adopted a list system that sets out concrete responsibilities, remedial measures, specific targets and deadlines.
In its rectification program, for instance, Beijing published a list of 47 detailed tasks, including trying to control the intensity of PM2.5 in the atmosphere within 60 micrograms per cubic meter this year and reducing the PM2.5 intensity by 30 percent by 2020 from the 2015 level. It also vowed to keep its city-wide polluted water treatment ratio above 95 percent by the end of 2020.
Central China’s Hubei province vowed to shut down all coal producers within two years.
Such action lists are a list of responsibilities. On the environment issue, local governments’ environmental protection programs are not just a response to the top environmental watchdog’s orders, they are a solemn commitment to the public that they will correct their past wrongdoings in environmental protection. Such a commitment cannot be discounted even a bit.
Past experiences indicate that it is yet to be seen whether these good-looking environmental protection plans will have any noticeable effects. Tightened supervision has proven to be the key to the effective implementation of such plans in the past.
The rectification lists drawn up by the local governments after inspections by the top environment watchdog not only reflect the leadership’s hardened resolve to strengthen environmental protection, but also mark an important step toward this target.
President Xi Jinping has stressed that a good ecology is a public product that is fair to all. Given that people today are more aware of environmental problems and health risks posed by pollution, local governments cannot afford to ignore environmental protection any more.
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Although the compensation is small compared with Taobao’s revenue, the case — the first in which the e-commerce company took the initiative to sue one of its online retailers — is of symbolic importance as it marks the transformation of the relations between the e-commerce company and its contracted merchants.
Admittedly, most of the online retailers try their best to provide customers with quality products and services. But it is undeniable that there are some retailers selling fake and substandard products on e-commerce sites.
The providers of e-commerce sites such as Taobao
Some agree with the owner who says that the unattended children are better off at the club as they at least have enough “beef and eggs” rather than tasteless “potatoes” on their plate.
But in truth, that argument does not hold up because there is always a third option for the children besides literally fighting for a living or starving at home, and that is official assistance. The local authorities in the children’s hometowns have a duty to support them and ensure they are properly educated, fed and cared for.
The education officials in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, which is home to some of the young fighters at the Chengdu club, said they will get the youngsters back into school where they belong. But the youngsters may refuse to go home, are hesitant to deal with any retailers selling fake or shoddy products on their platforms, because of the money they make from them.
But when the problematic retailers damage the reputation and image of the e-commerce platforms, the latter’s tolerance reaches its limit and they have to do whatever they need to bring the problematic retailers to court.
Hopefully, other e-commerce platform providers will seek to cleanse themselves of retailers selling fake goods, which will not only benefit themselves but, more important, consumers.
It is time to pick the bad apples from the baskets. as other rescued parentless or left-behind children from the prefecture have done over the past decade.
Asked why they do not want to go home or go to school, some of the children replied that working or fighting is a better choice because they will at least have some money and proper food. Similar answers to that question are usually the response given by orphans and guardianless children in rural China, highlighting the need for more effective government efforts to take care of unattended youngsters.
The Liangshan education authorities were among the first to respond to the reports of the underage fight club. But just getting the children back will not be enough to make them stay.