Zhongguo minjian huanbao liliang de chengzhang 中國民間環保力量的成長 (The Growing Nongovernmental Forces for Environmental Protection in China) (review)

Hong Dayong 洪大用 et al., Zhongguo minjian huanbao liliang de chengzhang 中國民間環保力量的成長 (The Growing Nongovernmental Forces for Environmental Protection in China). Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 2007. xi + 249 pp. ISBN 978-7-3000-8039-0 Shih-Hao Kang Received: 1 August 2010 /Accepted: 1 August 2010 /Published online: 16 October 2010 # National Science Council, Taiwan 2010 After rapid development over the last two decades, China now faces serious pollution problems. At the same time, concern about the environment has grown— not only among the Chinese public, but also among the ruling elites. For an insightful description of this changing picture, we must be grateful for the work of Hong Dayong and his colleagues. There have been several turning points in the Chinese environmental movement. During the 1980s, as the transition to a socialist market economy accelerated, the Chinese government recognized the importance of environmental protection; ever since then, the ruling elites have regularly drawn up guiding principles for the public. Under the current Chinese Party-state power structure, these guiding principles have included references to “Harmonious Society” (first addressed by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in September 2004) and to “Scientific Outlook on Development.” These themes have also been essential to the development of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and to the interaction between the Chinese government and the growth of environmental NGOs (ENGOs) in recent years. According to a 2008 environment report issued by the All-China Environment Federation, China has 508 grassroots-level NGOs working principally on environmental issues—the total has increased by nearly 300 since 2005. In total, there are 3,539 ENGOs in the country, ranging from grassroots to government-sponsored organizations, branches of international organizations, and school groups. This figure has jumped by 771 over the last 3 years, and the organizations have become visible players in government policy-making and raising public awareness. East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal (2010) 4:457–460 DOI 10.1007/s12280-010-9149-7 S.-H. Kang (*) Center for General Education, National Formosa University, No. 64, Wunhua Rd., Huwei Township, Yunlin County 632, Taiwan e-mail: shihaolov@hotmail.com During the last few years, several scholars (Schwartz 2004; Tang & Zhan 2005; Yang 2005) have studied the state–NGO relationship—only to arrive at conflicting conclusions. In Zhongguo minjian huanbao liliang de chengzhang, Hong and his colleagues aim to present a comprehensive view of the unofficial entities working for environmental good. These include environmental awareness groups, NGOs, community-based environmental protection activity, and the environmental industry. The book shows a good understanding of environmental movements in the West and departs from a macro perspective to observe the development and strength of individual ENGOs in China. Hong and his colleagues suggest that the development of China’s environmental awareness and activism is now in what is known as the gaming stage, a moment when different interests begin negotiations (p. 205). One of the main arguments is that the given rational regulations—the “Scientific Outlook on Development” for instance—should lead to a distinctively socialist harmonious society. If this is so, it would be helpful to direct economic development to minimize environmental degradation. According to their studies, it is insufficient attention to such concerns has been a major problem for both central and local authorities. In many cases, the most egregious polluters are found in underdeveloped regions, where local governments privilege economic development over public health and environmental concerns. According to Hong and his co-authors, a major obstacle to the implementation of appropriate restrictions on industry is the local governments’ opportunistic attitudes towards instructions they receive from the central government (pp. 188–195). Take the case of the Huai River as an example, implementing the Provisional Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the Huai River Drainage Area (1995) meant closing down more than 4,000 small businesses. In 1999, the government claimed that pollution had been eliminated, but 5 years later, a devastating release of industrial pollutants into the river drove local residents like Huo Daishan, who had become concerned about pollution after horrific spills in the late 1990s, initiated the first monitoring organization from below—the Huai River Guardian. Since then, this...