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Monday, February 11, 2019

from triviumchina.com

6. Xi clarifies his approach to environmental protection


Better late than never.

The Party’s top journal, Qiushi, published the contents of Xi’s May 2018 speech at the National Environmental Work Conference (see May 21, 2018 Tip Sheet).

Xi said now is the time to address China’s environmental problems:
  • “[We have entered] a window of time during which [we] have the ability to solve outstanding problems in [China’s] ecological environment.”
  • “If [we] don't take advantage of that window, the issues will be more difficult to solve, the cost will be greater, and the consequences will be heavier.”
Xi is calling for a fundamental change to the economic model:
  • “The goal is to change traditional production and consumption models that ‘produce massively, consume massively, and emit massively.’”
The bottom line: Xi and other top leaders see environmental degradation as one of the biggest threats to the Party’s legitimacy. That’s why cleaning up the environment is now a political imperative.
 
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