Today in class we watched portions of the documentary Under the Dome, which according to Wikipedia is a 2015 documentary starring Chai Jing about the problem regarding pollution in China. It is astounding to hear the levels of pollution allowed there, and a wonder why it isnt a larger issue. According to online sources the film was not censored by the Chinese government and once it gained traction was ordered to be taken off the air.
While it is still too early to tell the long-term impacts of this movie, the points being made were fascinating, in fact almost unbelievable. The party has released a statement since the publishing of this movie, which is as followed. “Environmental pollution is a blight on people’s quality of life and a trouble that weighs on their hearts … We must fight it with all our might.” Obviously, from this movie as well ass the readings, pollution is going to play a huge part in the future of Chinese politics and social movements.
In the news articles such as this, https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/06/chemical-explosion-china-px-nimby-environment-weibo/, can be found when scouring news sites about China. The article is about a factory that was shut down which exploded last week, and the authorities are questioning the nature of the explosion. The plant was shut down after a Not In My Backyard (NIMB) movement due to the fact that it produced Paraxylene, a harmful chemical found in many plastics. One quote from the article is from a man who says “the relocation of the paraxylene factory away from Xiamen may have reduced city revenue, but in the long term “the health of the people is priceless, What this era needs the most,”. This is a perfect example of what was discussed in the class regarding the balance between what the people want and what the leaders want. The NIMB movement was the collective action movement which brought the citizen’s desires to the forefront and as we have read the party leadership just wants to see the revenue and increased production. Ultimately, this is the problem that China faces today and will be a point of contest in future debates and world events.