China Asks U.S. Embassy To Stop Publishing Beijing Air Quality Data

[News_Editor]

China asks U.S. Embassy to stop publishing Beijing air quality data < br />

2012-06-05 23:51:02 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- The Chinese government on Tuesday asked the U.S. Embassy and other foreign embassies to stop publishing their own data about the air quality in the Chinese capital of Beijing, saying such publications are inaccurate and unlawful.

Speaking at a press conference, Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Wu Xiaoqing said the results released by foreign embassies cannot represent the city's overall air quality because it is measured by only one station. He noted that New York City has 20 monitoring points, Paris has 18 monitoring stations and London has 31.

Wu was mostly referring to a Twitter feed run by the U.S. Embassy that tracks pollution in Beijing. The Twitter feed, @BeijingAir, publishes hourly readings of the city's air quality from a machine atop of the embassy compound and has amassed nearly 20,000 followers since it was first launched in 2008.

The readings published on the Twitter feed often differ from data released by Beijing, which bases its results on 27 monitoring stations across the city. For instance, the U.S. Embassy reported 199 micrograms of particulate matter in the air on late Tuesday and categorized this level as "very unhealthy." Readings from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau indicated between 51 and 79 micrograms at its stations but categorized those levels as "good."

But Wu said it is unfair to measure Beijing's air quality by U.S. standards. China requires concentrations of PM2.5, particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, to be kept below daily averages of 75 micrograms per cubic meter while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's standard is 35 micrograms. Prior to 2006, the U.S. required concentrations of PM2.5 to be kept below 65 micrograms.

"Environmental quality standards should tally with economic development and technologic conditions," Wu said, as quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency. "According to international conventions, diplomats are obligated to respect and abide by the laws and regulations in their receiving states. In addition, they cannot interfere with the domestic issues of receiving states."

Beijing began reporting PM2.5 concentrations earlier this year after it introduced stricter air quality standards. It earlier reported PM10 concentrations which are considered less harmful to human health than PM2.5. Sources of PM2.5, which can only be detected with an electron microscope, include all types of combustion, including motor vehicles, power plants, residential wood burning, forest fires, agricultural burning, and some industrial processes.

Wu added that China will improve the precision of environment monitoring results and the issuance of the results to meet foreign diplomats and the public's demands for environment quality information. "We wish those embassies and consulates will respect China's laws and stop publishing air quality data which is not representative," he said.

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