China Policy Journal Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2018 | Page 93

China Policy Journal
type of pollutions (e.g., water and soil).
Due to its visibility, however, public
complaints and outcry distract government
attention from addressing other
more serious environmental challenges.
Also, government takes fragmented,
campaign-style, and short-term superficial
measures instead of holistic and
fundamental strategies to address air
pollution (Dasgupta and Wheeler 1997;
Dong et al. 2011).
Last but not the least, curbing air
pollution is a double-edged sword. Air
pollution is the consequence of China’s
fast industrialization and economic development.
On the one hand, Chinese
people are the victim of air pollution; on
the other hand, they are also the beneficiaries
of fast economic development.
Studies found that Chinese believe economic
development is more important
than environmental protection and
such attitudes are rooted in the nation’s
long history of poverty, resulting in
strong desire for material wealth (Harris
2006). China’s environmental pollution
is deeply intertwined with other
problems related to industrial structure,
energy consumption structure, and the
model of economic development. China
still has a long way to go in curbing
environmental pollution.
In addition, how Chinese people
perceives air pollution is further
complicated by the fact that the causal
mechanisms between air pollution and
health consequences are ambiguous,
and the negative effects of air pollution
on public health are often long term
and chronical (Holdaway 2013). Moreover,
previous environmental studies
suggest that demographic characteristics
such as age, gender, education, residence,
and social economic status may
also influence people’s environmental
perceptions (Daneshvary, Daneshvary,
and Schwer 1998; Ebreo, Hershey, and
Vining 1999; Howell and Laska 1992;
Xiao and Hong 2010). Therefore, it is
more meaningful to study how Chinese
people’s perceptions of air pollution affect
their political attitudes and actions
than studying the static and “objective”
air quality indicators.
Environmental Transparency
The central government has considered
environmental pollution as its top policy
priority due to the devastating and
detrimental effects of environmental
pollution on environmental sustainability,
public health, and political trust and
legitimacy (Economy 2010). However,
the implementation of environmental
protection policy is largely thwarted by
China’s unique political system characterized
by fragmented and decentralized
authoritarianism (Lieberthal
1997). Local functional departments
and environmental departments need
to report to and under the control of
both central and local governments.
The fragmented and decentralized
power of environment protection challenges
the efforts of the central government
in striking a balance between economic
development and environmental
protection (Tan 2014).
Given the importance of people’s
perceptions of air pollution and the
difficulties of addressing the “wicked
problem” in the short run, it is crucial
to manage subjective air quality apart
from actually improving air quality.
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