中国大気汚染 これは体制の問題だ

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 11
EDITORIAL: Chinese leaders must heed the opinions of their coughing citizens
（社説）中国大気汚染　これは体制の問題だ

People in Beijing and many other cities in China cannot see a clear blue sky amid the latest bout of air pollution.
　北京をはじめ中国各地で青空が見えなくなっている。

The concentration of fine, deadly particulate matter called PM 2.5 has far exceeded safety standards, prompting the government to close schools and forcing people to wear masks when they go to work.
　微小粒子状物質ＰＭ２・５の濃度が基準値をはるかに超え、学校が臨時休校となり、通勤にはマスクが欠かせないという。

The toxic smog that has blanketed the capital and other parts of the nation should be regarded as a violation of people’s right to live. China should ask itself why the problem has become so serious.
　この大気汚染はもはや生存権の侵害だ。なぜ問題が深刻化したかを問わねばならない。

A combination of factors has caused this public health crisis, including smoke from factories, exhaust gas from automobiles and coal burning.
　原因は、工場の煙、自動車の排気、石炭など複合的だ。

While the serious health hazard of rapidly deteriorating air quality in China has become widely recognized as the “PM 2.5 problem” only in the past several years, air pollution actually has been damaging human health in the country for more than a decade.
「ＰＭ２・５」問題として注目され始めたのはこの数年のことだが、実際には１０年以上前から大気汚染が人々の体をむしばんでいたのである。

Japan and other industrial nations have the bitter experience of suffering from air pollution and water contamination from economic development.
　経済発展に伴う大気汚染や水質汚濁は、日本を含む先進国がもつ苦い経験である。

These countries had to go through a similar process in overcoming the problem.
　問題の克服には一連の過程が必要だった。

First, people facing pollution expressed their concerns and complaints and demanded policy responses to the problems. Experts then investigated the problems, and media reported on them. Eventually, the judiciary ruled on lawsuits, forcing the government, which tends to put higher priority on the interests of businesses, to take action to deal with the situation.
公害に直面した住民が声をあげ、専門家が調べ、メディアが伝え、司法機関が裁き、企業を優先しがちな政府を動かす、というものだ。

But this mechanism is apparently not at work in China.
　だが、このメカニズムが中国では働いていないようだ。

One factor believed to be behind China’s bad air is the poor quality of gasoline. No serious efforts to address the problem have been made because state-owned oil companies have close ties with the Communist Party leadership, according to observers.
　中国で指摘されてきた問題の一つはガソリンの質の悪さだ。いっこうに改善されなかったのは、国有石油企業が共産党政権の中枢とつながっていたためといわれる。

The new air pollution prevention law, which will go into force at the beginning of next year, contains provisions requiring the establishment of quality standards for fuels. But the measure has come too late.
　年明けに施行される新しい大気汚染防止法は、燃料の品質基準を定めることを盛りこんでいるが、遅きに失した。

In February this year, Chai Jing, a former reporter at China Central Television, released online a documentary film on air pollution, evoking a huge public response. Initially, the minister of environmental protection praised the video, but it was removed before long. It is believed that authorities, alarmed by civic protests triggered by the film, took it off the Internet.
　ことし２月、元中国中央テレビ記者の柴静さんが大気汚染を告発する動画をネットで公表し、反響を呼んだ。当初は環境保護相も支持したが、ほどなく見ることができなくなった。抗議行動が起き始めたことを当局が危険視したためとされる。

There have been recent outbreaks of opposition to plans to build factories in various parts of the nation. Chinese citizens are becoming increasingly more conscious of environmental problems.
　最近は工場建設への反対運動が頻発している。市民の環境問題への意識は高い。

The Chinese government’s refusal to listen to such voices is probably the principal cause of the serious decline of air quality.
こうした声に耳を傾けなかった政権の姿勢こそが、事態の深刻化を招いた元凶ではないか。

The media have reported on government measures to improve the situation, such as shutting down factories that illegally discharge pollutants into the atmosphere.
　汚染物質を違法に排出する工場を一斉に閉鎖させるといった対応策が伝えられている。

These reports may be aimed at touting the government’s policy actions. But such dirty factories would have disappeared long ago if the government had respected the will of the people.
政権の行動を宣伝する狙いかもしれないが、住民の意思が反映されれば、そんな工場はとうになくなっていたはずだ。

This is a matter that affects people’s lives.
　ことは人命にかかわる。

Air pollution causes more than a million deaths in China every year, according to one estimate.
大気汚染を原因とする死者は、中国で毎年百数十万に上るとの推計もある。

What is especially worrisome is the impact on the health of children.
心配なのは子どもたちだ。

Reportedly, a growing number of children in China are being rushed to hospitals because they can’t stop coughing.
せきが止まらず病院に駆け込む例が増えているという。

Japan and China have various frameworks for bilateral cooperation on environmental problems.
　日中間では環境問題で協力する枠組みがさまざまあるが、

More efforts are needed on various levels to come up with ideas to support China’s fight against air pollution. Japan’s central and local governments as well as nongovernmental organizations should be involved in such efforts.
日本の政府、自治体、ＮＧＯなど各レベルでもっと助力を強める余地はないか知恵を絞りたい。

We should tackle this formidable environmental challenge to help sensible Chinese people again see the blue sky.
　青空を見たい、問題を解決したいと願う心ある中国の人々を勇気づけたい。