Climate change

A big hand should be given to the Chinese government for preparing its first official and comprehensive document on climate change.

As the largest developing country, on its way toward industrialization and modernization, if proper policy is adopted, China could contribute a lot to environmental protection.

This would help, at least, slow down the deterioration of the world climate.

The countries all over the world need to cooperate with each other to battle wrenching climate change.

Mohamed Amin

Via e-mail

Comments on Li Xing' s column "Stop global warming blame game" (China Daily, February 1, 2007)

It is true that China's environmental problem is severe. The government is investing and legislating on those problems and some NGOs are working hard to educate people and corporations to do right.

Even developed countries need time to obtain the right model on sustainable development.

I surfed several environmental protection websites. I like the way they rank the most polluted companies in one certain region/city and inform the residents by sending mail or faxes on the rankings and ask everyone to contribute their ideas to help punish those polluters.

Environment is a global resource; it's not a national reserve. All the people in this world are responsible to help on this issue. Let's do something that really helps.

Fiona

On China Daily website

To see the problem in China, do nothing more than fly on a clear cloudless day between Beijing and Shanghai.

You will get to 20,000 feet and see beautiful blue sky above you. Then look down and try to see the ground.

There is a good chance you won't. The haze from belching factories and dust from construction sites lead to a pollution level that is simply shocking.

Fly from China to a foreign city, even one known for its own pollution problems such as Los Angeles, and you will walk out of the plane marvelling at how blue the sky is.

Gord

On China Daily website

Traffic police

Comments on Liu Shinan's column "Traffic laws need sane enforcement" (China Daily, January 31, 2007)

What is required is a working system of Traffic Police.

Disobeying the red light is so common now that it barely deserves a comment. Speeding towards pedestrians, and killing them, has become a national sport. See if you can make the old person run seems to be the game.

We do not have an infrastructure in place for so many autos. We lack traffic lights to stop traffic so pedestrians may walk across these large intersections.

We have put the cart before the horse. First must come the control system, then a practical method of getting police officers out of their comfortable stations onto the road and traffic control.

Cao

On China Daily website

Not only do traffic laws need to be enforced, but the system of fines needs to be updated.

Speeding fines of a few hundred RMB are trivial to the majority of the black-Audi owning new rich.

As in several northern European countries, fines should be proportional to the driver's wealth so that every fine hurts every driver equally.

In China, this might be too difficult to establish, with such widespread tax dodging.

Perhaps a system that would work in China would be a fine proportional to the value of the car.

Wang Yi

On China Daily website

(China Daily 02/07/2007 page11)