Introduction

China has become the world’s top environmental polluter and carbon emitter over the past two decades. Its manufacturing and export economy is inherently unsustainable, unsafe, and inequitable as it is polluting cities, waters, and soils as the population urbanizes. This environmental health crisis, coupled with the fact that China’s emissions and overall environmental degradation add to the global climate crisis, can ultimately threaten the social, economic, and political legitimacy of the Chinese regime. The Chinese government faces many challenges that stifle its ability to respond appropriately to these environmental issues and their effects on public health. This article aims to explore these challenges and how they have changed over the past two decades in hopes of shining light on the efforts the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has taken to address these issues and ultimately whether these efforts are enough to preserve the legitimacy of the regime. 

China’s Environmental Scene

In China, rapid urbanization and economic proliferation has been achieved without much consideration for environmental and public health costs. These environmental public health costs disproportionately affect the poor, especially in rural areas, and ethnic minorities living in the western region of China, contributing to a larger human rights issue (Holdaway, 2010).

China’s shift over recent years to prioritizing environmental issues and responding to the public health crisis that has taken place is the result of several dynamics converging domestically, ultimately making it a more difficult and complex issue for the CCP to address and resolve. 

Why has China’s Stance on Environmental Issues Shifted?

The evident shift in the CCP’s prioritization of environmental issues from the 1980s and 1990s to the 2000s and 2010s can be attributed to China’s shifting position in the world and the dynamics domestically that resulted from a period of such intense economic growth. Deng Xiaoping’s economic reforms and trade liberalization that started in the 1980s, commonly referred to as the “opening up of China,” sparked a period of rapid industrialization that contributed greatly to China’s environmental footprint. Since the Chinese economy is dominated by export-led growth, raw materials extracted in China are often used to create products for foreign markets (usually developed countries such as the U.S.). The pollution caused by such intense manufacturing negatively affects the Chinese people in terms of quality of life, prevalence of disease, and shortened life spans (Shapiro, Ch. 1). These issues ultimately lead to social unrest, as Chinese citizens protest for their rights to clean water, food, and air (Holdaway, 2010).

Are China’s Efforts Enough to Ease Social Unrest? 

While China has tried to paint environmental issues at the top of the agenda through the signing of the Paris Agreement and the subsequent pledges from President Xi Jinping, it is important to focus on what actions China is taking. China is the world’s largest coal producer, and coal makes up about two thirds of China’s greenhouse gas emissions. In 2016, the Chinese government banned the construction of new coal-fired power plants and it seemed as if this led to a decrease in coal use until the ban expired in 2018 and new plants began to arise. According to the Global Energy Monitor and the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air, China built over three times more new coal-power capacity than the rest of the world combined since the ban expired (Center for Research on Energy and Clear Air, 2021). While there has been a large increase in the skill level and capacity of the State Environmental Protection Administration over the past two decades, the central bureaucracy is still extremely underfunded and understaffed. The State Environmental Protection Administration has only 300 full-time staff members, compared to the 6,000 staff members of the U.S. EPA. Furthermore, China only spends around 1.5% of its GDP annually on environmental issues. Dr. Elizabeth Economy says, “Chinese scientists themselves have estimated that China ought to spend at least 2% of GDP annually on environmental protection, merely to keep the situation from deteriorating further (Economy, 2003). More recently, China’s COVID-19 stimulus measures were clearly aimed at economic stability, as the stimulus did not even address environmental issues. This has resulted in the CCP’s continued investment in carbon-heavy infrastructure. It is evident that Chinese bureaucrats aim to achieve a “non-disruptive and incremental green policymaking approach, always concerned about political stability and economic costs” (China Monitor, 2021). These examples show that while China is quick to make headline-grabbing announcements and pledges, its follow-through is oftentimes weak, sparking social unrest and protest.  

Social Unrest 

      Even though protest is illegal in China, it has become a common way for citizens to express social discontent with the one-party system. In recent years, environmental concerns, land disputes, and labor strikes have been cited as the leading causes of protest in China. Social unrest and protests have undermined the legitimacy of the Chinese government. “There is a huge gap between how fast the environment is being improved and how fast the public is demanding it to be improved, and environmental problems could easily become a tipping point that leads to social risks,” the Institute of Environmental Planning said in a report published by the official China Environmental News (Reuters Staff, 2015).

On June 28, 2019, residents of Yangluo residential district in Wuhan protested the construction of a waste-to-energy plant in the district as it was being built only 100 meters from apartment buildings instead of the minimum 1.5 kilometers recommended by the plans for the area. The protesters gathered outside the city government’s offices and many protesters, including the elderly, were beaten by police. The videos and photos depicting the violence led to harsh criticism of the police and the government. This type of uproar and subsequent media coverage results in greater awareness and education surrounding China’s environmental issues, which could ultimately spark a movement large enough that implies or leads to democratic change, both of which would threaten the legitimacy of the Chinese government (Brock, 2019).  

Concluding Thoughts

Through China’s signing of the Paris Agreement, Xi Jinping’s subsequent pledges to prioritize sustainability and reduce pollution, and some positive steps the government has taken to help the issue, China is trying to portray that it has the environmental situation under control. When considering the government's flagrant disregard for public health, lack of transparency, and its inability to implement policies that will alleviate the crisis effectively, the Chinese government will face long-term challenges while addressing these issues. The social unrest that stems from these issues ultimately undermines the political stability and legitimacy of the CCP. Does China’s environmental crisis and disregard for public health hinder its rise to supremacy on the world stage?

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