Beijing and other Chinese cities have become infamous for their soot and smoke. According to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, a friend of his begins each day by conducting his own air quality test:
“He looks out his 24th-story window and checks how far he can see. On a rare pristine day, when the wind has swept Beijing, he can see the Fragrant Mountain rising to the northwest. On a “good” pollution day, he can see the China World building four blocks away. On a bad day, he can’t see the building next door.”
American tourists routinely return from China talking about their burning lungs and gum-filled nostrils, and how shocked they are at the extent of China’s environmental crisis. But what the tourists fail to see is that the Chinese are just as alarmed about water pollution as air pollution, and American corporations are a significant source of this pollution.
According to the Chinese government 300 million of their citizens drink contaminated water on a daily basis, and of these, 190 million drink water which is so contaminated that it is making them sick. The United Nations’ latest Human Development Report found more than half of the country’s water resources have been severely polluted and 70% of the water that flows through China’s urban areas is unfit for drinking or fishing.
The impact on the average Chinese citizen has been devastating. According to Dr. Jennifer L. Turner, director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, scientists and environmental NGO’s have been tracking
"the disturbing trend of higher than normal rates of tumors, cancer, spontaneous abortions and diminished IQs among populations living near polluted rivers and lakes. Water pollution is also causing agricultural losses, sparking protests against industries by farmers who have lost the use of land and water and cannot sell their ‘toxic’ crops."
It’s no wonder the Chinese government recorded 50,000 environmental-related protests in 2005 alone, many of which were related to water pollution.
American corporations, which provide a large and growing part of China's industrial expansion, have taken a strong public stand for a sound environment. Pepsi-Cola, for example, has globally proclaimed its "Sustainability Vision”:
“PepsiCo’s Sustainability Vision is simple in concept, but far-reaching in impact. Environmental stewardship is a core part of this vision. PepsiCo recognizes our responsibility to be a good steward of the environment, both as a corporate citizen and as a way to support the company’s goals…We will consider our potential environmental impacts in our daily business decision-making processes…We will encourage conservation of natural resources, recycling, source reduction and pollution control to ensure cleaner air and water and to reduce landfill wastes. We will share environmental best practices across the company.”
Unfortunately, it has recently been disclosed that American and other global corporations are some of the prime polluters in China. According to a recent report released by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a China-based NGO, companies such as Pepsi-Cola, Panasonic, and Nestle were among 33 "serious polluters" that the Chinese government “blacklisted” for water pollution.
The Institute gathered their findings by sifting through three years of official government records at both the local and national levels. They found, for example, that Panasonic Battery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. was cited by the local environmental protection bureau in June 2006 and also 2005 for releasing inadequately treated wastewater. Pepsi-Cola International (Changchun) Co Ltd was criticized for a similar reason in 2005. Kao Chemical Corporation Shanghai, a joint-venture enterprise of American Standard Companies and Shanghai Pizza Hut, was also cited.
While foreign violators represented a fraction of the total 2,700 violators, these companies hold themselves up both in the US and around the world as beacons of environmental protection in the global economy. They are the leaders of corporate-led globalization and increasingly these companies are trying to promote their products with claims of social and environmental justice.
According to Institute director Ma Jun, an expert in water pollution issues who was featured in the 2006 edition of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People”,
“Those multinational companies have violated the basic environmental laws and regulations of China. I was very surprised to see well-known names in global business listed as water polluters in China…The parent companies in their home countries are models for environmental protection. But they have slackened their efforts in China…The paradise that China is proving for foreign companies can’t last forever. We are dumping the pollution into our own backyard and people are suffering.”
Ma added,
“The list only reveals a fraction of the number of violations of environmental regulations by multinational companies in China, because it only covers companies causing water pollution. Those that have caused air and waste pollution were not included…[and] there may be more polluting companies that have not been made public by local environmental departments.”
Global corporations regularly relocate to China in order to take advantage of cheap labor and weak labor protections. Less publicized is their incessant search for lax environmental protections. China's environmental standards are significantly lower than those of European countries and the United States, and many laws are intentionally not enforced. According to Ma:
"On one hand, these multinational companies fail to keep their universal environmental promises and on the other hand China is weak in its implementation of the environmental laws and regulations…These [global] companies require their Chinese partners to obey strictly environmental regulations. But they violate the regulations themselves."
It is disturbing that Pepsi, one of the four largest distributors of bottled water, would so pollute Chinese drinking water that the Chinese government would blacklist them. Viewed from the perspective of their actual behavior in China—i.e. what they do as opposed to what they say—PepsiCo’s stated “Sustainability Vision” becomes almost grotesque.
According to Ma Jun, the Institute’s report created a major stir among the Chinese public since all of the MNCs cited were known for their commitment to protect the environment. The Chinese outrage is understandable. But corporate pollution is not just the concern of Chinese citizens. Americans need to care about pollution in China because we all have a stake in the air we breathe and water we drink. As Americans we also carry the additional responsibility of regulating the labor and environmental practices of our corporations overseas.
And if they'll pollute the drinking water in China, how long before they tell us we have to lower our environmental standards at home in order to remain 'competitive'?
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