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WORLD NEWSSaturday 12 March 2016
China says slowing economy won’t stop anti-pollution efforts
LOUISE WATT A woman wears a mask during a polluted day at the opening session of the Chinese People’s some development space
Associated Press Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People. China will not go for good companies to
BEIJING (AP) — China will back to its era of pursuing economic growth at the expense of the environment despite its slowing focus on innovation and
not return to its era of pur- economy, the country’s Environment Minister Chen Jining said Friday, March 11, 2016. improving product quality,
suing economic growth at and to avoid the phenom-
the expense of the envi- (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) enon of ‘bad money driv-
ronment despite its slowing ing out good’ in our devel-
economy, the country’s with little care of the dam- more concerned with the ments can be unified and opment,” said Chen.
environment minister said age to the country’s envi- consequences of environ- balanced.” China’s slowing growth, at-
Friday. ronment. In recent years, mental pollution. Today, China is aiming to tempts to refocus its econ-
Chen Jining said Chi- the Chinese government “What is development? transform its economic de- omy on services and long-
na would continue to has changed tack as it We used to equate it with velopment model and pur- term efforts to get rid of
restructure its economy tries to move away from an GDP and production,” said sue “economic quality, but overcapacity in industries
away from heavily pollut- economy dependent on Chen. “We have come to also environmental qual- including coal and steel
ing companies to create heavy industry to a more believe that nature is valu- ity,” Chen told a news con- are helping to reduce air
more room for “good com- sustainable one based on able and priceless. We ference during an annual pollution and greenhouse
panies” to develop and fo- domestic consumption have abandoned the for- meeting of the country’s gases.
cus on technological inno- and services. mer idea of contrasting legislature. But local governments’ pe-
vation, for example. At the same time, Chi- development with envi- “Only when those polluters rennial push for economic
Chen pointed, however, na’s increasingly wealthy ronmental protection but bow out of the market will growth in their cities and
to the need to rein in lo- citizens have become rather believe the two ele- it be possible to set aside provinces, and state com-
cal governments, some panies’ tendency to spend
of whom are still leery of large, can lead to projects
enforcing environmental that are at odds with cen-
laws in favor of boosting tral policymakers’ push
economic growth in their to clean up the area, ac-
areas. cording to environmental-
“We need to hold the lo- ists.
cal governments account- China is the world’s largest
able,” said Chen. “Only if coal user, but its coal con-
we hold them account- sumption has fallen for the
able for environmental re- past two years, and it has
sponsibilities will the enter- become the world’s lead-
prises be more law-abid- ing investor in renewable
ing.” energy. Yet China ap-
Last year, China’s eco- proved more than 200 new
nomic growth slowed to a coal-fired power plants
25-year low of 6.9 percent. last year, with a capac-
This year, authorities have ity three times as much as
set a growth target of 6.5 that in each of the previ-
to 7 percent. ous two years, according
For decades, China pur- to a Greenpeace analysis
sued economic growth published last week.
Seoul: Number of North Korean cyberattacks doubled in month
HYUNG-JIN KIM to hack into the railway tween late February and the stolen messages in- sanctions and the biggest-
Associated Press control system and com- early this month. According clude any sensitive infor- ever South Korea-U.S. mili-
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — puter networks of financial to the NIS, NorthKorea suc- mation. Seoul has accused tary drills, North Korea has
South Korea’s spy agency institutions in South Korea, ceeded in hacking the Pyongyang of launching fired short-range missiles
told lawmakers Friday that according to the office of phones of 40 of those 300 other similar cyberattacks and artillery into the sea
the number of North Ko- lawmaker Joo Ho-young officials and stole their text in recent years. Pyongyang and vowed to expand its
rean cyberattacks on the who attended the private and voice messages and has denied the allegations. nuclear arsenal. On Friday,
South has doubled over meeting. The NIS also ac- phone logs, said an aide Animosities between the ri- NorthKorea’s state media
the past month. The Na- cused North Korea of hav- to Joo who requested ano- val Koreas have risen since quoted leader Kim Jong
tional Intelligence Service ing tried to hack into the nymity because he wasn’t North Korea’s nuclear test Un as having ordered more
told a parliamentary com- smartphones of 300 foreign authorized to speak to me- and long-range rocket nuclear explosion tests but
mittee meeting that the affairs, security and military dia publicly. launch earlier this year. it didn’t say when they
North unsuccessfully tried officials in South Korea be- The NIS didn’t say whether Furious over harsh new U.N. would be conducted.
