双语新闻报道：雾霾[1]

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For nearly 15 years the Chinese government has been talking about improving the air quality in Beijing, and by its own measures it seems to have done a pretty good job.

Since the city launched a campaign in 1998 to clean up the atmosphere, the number of “blue sky days” recorded by the government increased each year until 2011, when it achieved a record 286 days with supposedly clean air, compared with 100 in 1998.

But as anyone who has lived for long in Beijing can attest, “blue sky” is a somewhat redundant concept when applied to the celestial capital.

Over the weekend, air pollution readings in the city were the worst since records began about four years ago, with the concentration of fine particulates reaching a level 75 times greater than that considered healthy under the latest US standards.

A thick layer of toxic fog blanketing Beijing for days blotted out the sun and disrupted traffic as residents were warned to stay inside and avoid any strenuous activity to minimise their exposure to the hazardous fumes.

Despite years of official rhetoric and a couple of years when there was a noticeable improvement, the air seems to be getting worse and could even present the new administration of Xi Jinping with a credibility crisis. Chinese and international experts say one of the biggest problems the government faces is the willingness of officials at all levels to sacrifice environmental concerns for the overriding imperative of economic growth.

A lack of accountability, the weakness of agencies tasked with tackling the issue and the ease with which data collection and presentation is manipulated all compound the problem.

“China’s national leaders have ordered an improvement in air quality but thanks to misreporting and manipulation of data at the lower levels, they often aren’t aware of the severity of the probl英语资源