Earth, air, sky and water; China's hazardous chemical storage facilities.
1
Sorry, but are we talking about Tianjin, China, or Texas? There was a bad one in China. There have been at least a half dozen in East Texas so far this year.
Maybe we should watch our own beam first.
Maybe we should watch our own beam first.
How is this accident any different than the ones that occur in the USA?
Give it a name. Communism, Socialism, Capitalism. It all occurs from greed.
Give it a name. Communism, Socialism, Capitalism. It all occurs from greed.
Everyone who complains about the "burden" of health, safety, and environmental regulations in this country should be required to read this article.
3
Considering how this is China we're talking about here, I'm not surprised one bit by this revelation.
Gee - sounds like our SEC in action. Weak rules, lax enforcement. People moving from regulator to regulated at will. What could possibly go wrong.
Of course in China, now that all is being revealed they take action and heads roll - literally. Too bad our regulators are so weak willed.
Of course in China, now that all is being revealed they take action and heads roll - literally. Too bad our regulators are so weak willed.
1
Pointing the finger at the Chinese, accusing them of being evil and greedy, conveniently distracts us away from the fact that we have helped cause, and daily perpetuate, the crisis that is Tianjin.
Almost everything I buy, from a folding chair to an evening gown, is made in China. Why? Because our companies have gone to China for cheaper labor, which translates into cheaper production costs, which sets the stage for inhuman, dangerous work conditions.
This inhuman and environmental degradation is standard fare, securely in place so that we consumers don't have to pay more for the same product made in our own country, a country where, for the most part, the standards and practices are higher and stricter.
Yes, the Chinese should take inventory of their scandalous and deadly practices. and so should we insatiable consumers.
Almost everything I buy, from a folding chair to an evening gown, is made in China. Why? Because our companies have gone to China for cheaper labor, which translates into cheaper production costs, which sets the stage for inhuman, dangerous work conditions.
This inhuman and environmental degradation is standard fare, securely in place so that we consumers don't have to pay more for the same product made in our own country, a country where, for the most part, the standards and practices are higher and stricter.
Yes, the Chinese should take inventory of their scandalous and deadly practices. and so should we insatiable consumers.
5
Yes - and our firms get away with in, because our elected officials decline to impose tariffs that would fully internalize all those externalities. They could also enforce rules that require any profits held overseas "for investment" are used within GAAP 1 year requirement or repatriated and taxed.
2
Now the issue is prevention, how to obtain compliance with regulations. I propose a three-pronged solution.
1) They should start a whistleblower reward system so that inspectors and others could anonymously report violations to a entity that cannot be corrupted, and have incentive to do so.
2) These people in Tienjin should be beheaded as examples and deterent. For sure, the two owners would probably be executed, but more people need to be, including the government officials.
3) There should be an amnesty program for self-reporting of non-compliance, with a plan and timeframe for corrective action.
1) They should start a whistleblower reward system so that inspectors and others could anonymously report violations to a entity that cannot be corrupted, and have incentive to do so.
2) These people in Tienjin should be beheaded as examples and deterent. For sure, the two owners would probably be executed, but more people need to be, including the government officials.
3) There should be an amnesty program for self-reporting of non-compliance, with a plan and timeframe for corrective action.
1
There is a real likelihood that some high ranking people will be executed. Chinese HQ hates to be publically embarrassed. They send serious messages.
Shortcuts and lax rules!? What a surprise. Decades of bad governance finally coming home to roost.
1
Take heed! The entire roster of republican presidential candidates want to turn the country over to the same sort of dangerous opportunists at the helm of US corporations. What would the Koch's do with the same license given these guys? They'd blow up the entire country and make Love Canal of what was left. The medical industry would sell us drugs that made us sicker and need more medication and surgically implant devices with planned obsolescence. Walmart would sell us stuff that was all but radioactive fallout made from the contaminated ashes left from China. This is just a preview of what will happen here if we continue letting business build our government to their specifications.
5
Medical industry already sells us drugs that make us sicker--it is a real and ongoing problem. Celebrex, and the statins, the ALZ drugs, the hypertension and diabetes drugs. Bypass surgery, stents.
1
The crucial risk in Tianjin was posed by the explosive chemicals, mainly the fertilizer nitrates. It’s remarkable how little respect even professionals have for these chemicals. Apart from all fingers and faces blown away by bombs made from ammonium nitrate by creative youngsters, a number of horrible industrial accidents have occurred (along with some terrorist bombings: Oklahoma City, Breivik etc.).
In Texas City 1947 ammonium nitrate explosions claimed 600 dead and 5.000 injured, composing one of the most serious industrial accidents in US history. It turned out that not enough was learned from that tragic event. Thus in a similar accident in 2013, in West, Texas, 15 people were killed and hundreds injured. In reports to EPA the company in question had asserted that no fire or explosion hazards existed on the premises. It seemed as if no one in the company had enough knowledge of the real dangers posed by these nitrates, and when a fire started a number of firefighters were sent in to an extremely dangerous place.
Tianjin teaches us yet again that greed and ignorance can create a lethal mixture.
In Texas City 1947 ammonium nitrate explosions claimed 600 dead and 5.000 injured, composing one of the most serious industrial accidents in US history. It turned out that not enough was learned from that tragic event. Thus in a similar accident in 2013, in West, Texas, 15 people were killed and hundreds injured. In reports to EPA the company in question had asserted that no fire or explosion hazards existed on the premises. It seemed as if no one in the company had enough knowledge of the real dangers posed by these nitrates, and when a fire started a number of firefighters were sent in to an extremely dangerous place.
Tianjin teaches us yet again that greed and ignorance can create a lethal mixture.
4
Lard, I am glad you mentioned that it also happened in Texas, U.S.in 1947, which claimed 600 dead and 5000 injured and also as recent as 2013 in West Texas, U.S. So it is not just in communist China that this occurred. Somehow I feel repulsive when New York Times reporters used the word communist. If that country has a different governing body for it other than a democracy, you do not want to rub salt onto the wound! This kind of calamities can happen in any country if not taken careful steps in control!!
Please use China only when you write future articles, you NYTimes reporters!!
Please use China only when you write future articles, you NYTimes reporters!!
1
Sort of reminds you of the blast at West, Texas. Shortcuts and lax rules.
1
When you listen to the GOP, the lack of oversight displayed in this disaster is exactly a reflection of loose oversight that they advocate at the behest of their corporate masters the so called "job creators". Even my own Congressman Hal Rogers complains of "job killing" overregulation by the EPA in relation to the declining coal industry which has less than a stellar record when it comes to protecting the environment. Effective and up to date enforcement is needed in today's rapidly changing industrial environment.
2
While the world is busy solving environmental issues, China creates one in their own backyard, while claiming they knew nothing about the dangers of unregulated toxic chemicals manufactured for purposes of exportation - would like to see the client purchase orders on that one!
While China has fairly modern environmental regulations, the fact that all you have to do to skirt them is pay off the right officials makes them moot.
Xi is trying to crack down on this corruption, but it is too endemic.
They do not have an environmental regulation problem, they have an enforcement and corruption problem.
Xi is trying to crack down on this corruption, but it is too endemic.
They do not have an environmental regulation problem, they have an enforcement and corruption problem.
7
This expose makes the adoration expressed by Trump & GOP16 candidates for China and Mexico ('They're eating our lunch") - not to mention their worship of tough-guys like Putin - all the more staggering, but also should remind people of the warehouse explosion of Waco, Texas, reflecting the similar breakdown of government regulation.
1
The Chinese manufacture and export pet food to the US contaminated with melamine. They manufacture and export to Australia flammable drywall. This is done in the name of expediency and profit, with no concern for outcomes. I'm sure a factory foreman or two will serve some prison time, and maybe a low-level party hack will lose his job. But at the end of the day there will be no meaningful changes, because at the end of the day in China profit is more important than safety.
Ronald Reagen got elected because Americans believed him when he said "government is the problem". We're still arguing about it. Do we really want a weak governance that corporations may easily exploit for their own profit? Republicans say yes. Democrats say no. The people decide. The Chinese people don't have that much choice. If we're not careful, neither will we.
8
Americans don't decide. Corporations like GM decide, Honda decide, etc. GM deliberately concealed that it had decided that profit was more important than its customers. They allowed a part to be put into their vehicles despite knowing that it was the wrong size and could cause cars a total loss of power and result in instant death. The government allowed them to "self report" such matters. They hid crash reports under various titles to muddy the waters about what was really happening. Similarly, Honda did nothing when it discovered that the airbags being supplied by Tanaka were defective. They colluded with Tanaka to stay silent for years even when it was discovered that metal pieces from the airbag were killing people when they deployed. There are examples too numerous to mention where big business or corrupt local officials in China decide that their interests are paramount to human decency. Can citizens anywhere protect themselves from such blatant disregard and self interest?
4
For the corporations, by the corporations...
2
There are certain politicians in the US who would do away with the EPA and OSHA. This is what will happen if those "unfettered capitalists" and their billionaire sponsors manage to buy the next election.
1
This accident is an object lesson that rapid industrial development and the growth of a middle class along with a rapid acceleration of income inequality and environmental degradation under a corrupt totalitarian government should never have been embraced and encouraged by the United States. China's most-favored-nation status has contributed enormously to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S., created a huge trade imbalance, and flooded our markets with shoddy, and sometimes dangerous, consumer goods. The biggest beneficiaries have been giant corporations like Walmart, not the majority of American and Chinese citizens.
2
Here's a perspective I haven't seen addressed yet. In the US, where federal and state environmental regulatory agencies have become underbudgeted, defanged, and demoralized, much environmental and safety protection is accomplished by "shadow" regulators consisting of banks and insurers who, respectively, seek to minimize threats to their collateral and the existence of excessive risks. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me can address whether such shadow regulation exists in China and, if it doesn't, whether banks and insurers there are, in essence, carrying excessive unbooked risks. In turn, that's an obvious financial risk.
2
I fear that in our effort to reduce federal governmen. the United States is headed toward this direction where the compnY decides what they should do to I cease profits. In China businesses are are ahead of the government and profits are ahead of safety. Wake Up America we are moving China's way.
1
Welcome to crony capitalism -- the new so-called free enterprise model. It's only a matter of time before it is ruled by the crony part so that the capitalism part can be better utilized - by those who govern. It's the new way to pretend that the money flow is somehow less personal and "unfair". Government controls the means and the results. And then "distributes" it -- first of course to itself and then to the cronies who produce it and then to the folks who will keep the system in power (voters who benefit). The "middle class" thus created is a wholly owned subsidiary of the governing class that has learned to use entrepreneurship for its own ends. It knows it's no good at making anything but very good at utilizing the proceeds, so it doesn't own enterprise, it merely controls it. It's not materialism folks, it's human nature. The new way. Be careful what you wish for.
1
Does the GOP of the 21st Century care about the environment? How much does the public care, especially if the problem is not before their own eyes?
1
Gee, I never realized how much China and Texas resembled each other until now.
And unlike America where the Corporation in charge would find a couple of lowly workers to blame for this the Chinese Government will arrest and charge managers and Corporate Officers for this disaster. If found guilty they will be sentenced to death or life imprisonment and all of their wealth will be seized, their families will be left destitute. To the Chinese a Corporation is not a faceless entity.
1
The two owners will lose their lives, almost for sure. How can they blame an underling in something this big.
It is true in the US, a lower person on the totem pole is usually scapegoated, the top guy may or may not resign, unless the case becomes a blockbuster, like Enron. Then they write a book.
In Japan, the top person resigns or kills himself.
It is true in the US, a lower person on the totem pole is usually scapegoated, the top guy may or may not resign, unless the case becomes a blockbuster, like Enron. Then they write a book.
In Japan, the top person resigns or kills himself.
1
I used to do this kind of legal work, doing environmental impact assessments for many new chemical plants, LNG storage facilities, landfills, water supply projects and mass gatherings (theme parks, Winter Olymipics), culminating in the 1,400 acre GlobalFoundries chip fab located in upstate NY (one of the the largest, if not the largest, industrial project sited in North America since 2000) that could have a potential impacts on communities and residential neighborhoods.
While there was sometimes grumbling from my corporate clients about "over regulation" in New York State and the regulatory agencies such as DEC and local planning boards, by and large, the executives were committed to building safe, environmentally compatible facilities and were grateful that the legal process gave them a structured forum to appease activist opponents of the project and overcome objections through persuasion and "participatory democracy". The approvals my clients almost always received were not the result of bribes or corruption, but compliance with regulations, actions to mitigate potential impacts and public concerns.
Came the 2008 crash and my then project clients for several huge hydroelectric projects went bankrupt. The phone didn't ring for 3 years except for some picayune matters not singificant to sustain a law practice (e.g. Oil spill from a pipe break at a closed Jiffy Lube). The branch office of my law firm was shuttered. The work was off shored, with the results reported here.
While there was sometimes grumbling from my corporate clients about "over regulation" in New York State and the regulatory agencies such as DEC and local planning boards, by and large, the executives were committed to building safe, environmentally compatible facilities and were grateful that the legal process gave them a structured forum to appease activist opponents of the project and overcome objections through persuasion and "participatory democracy". The approvals my clients almost always received were not the result of bribes or corruption, but compliance with regulations, actions to mitigate potential impacts and public concerns.
Came the 2008 crash and my then project clients for several huge hydroelectric projects went bankrupt. The phone didn't ring for 3 years except for some picayune matters not singificant to sustain a law practice (e.g. Oil spill from a pipe break at a closed Jiffy Lube). The branch office of my law firm was shuttered. The work was off shored, with the results reported here.
3
I'm shocked. Don't American Democrats always tell us about the superiority of communism and socialism compared to our own modified free market system?
1
Last time I looked it was Trump and the rest of the clown car who were expressing admiration for China and also for Putin's style of government.
No, that's an American Democrat Party thing. Since their inception by Gen. Andrew ("Trail of Tears") Jackson, they've always been about hatred, racism and greed and all about running everyone else's lives - usually quite incompetently.
We need to look at the based cause for pervasive corruption and an unrestrained desire for excessive and outlandish profits that permeates the entire world. Some have mentioned Texas, where they hate regulation. However, this is little different from China, or anyplace else. These is a worldwide pervasive and unfettered craving for outrageous profits. Billionaires are NEVER happy with their multitudes of riches, and if ordered to wisely spend even 90% of their multiplied millions, could NOT do so, even under the threat of death! I Timothy 6: 10 states "For the love of money is the root of ALL evil--." God's proclamation is proving to be 100% true and a pillar of truth! The problem recognized here not only exists in China to an exacerbated degree, but throughout the world. It is caused by ignoring or rejecting God and His principles and pattern for human life. The Chinese have forbidden God, as well as any form of religion. Without God, there will be no proper morals and NO desire to live righteously! If the Chinese would welcome God back into their nation, the impact of Christians would quickly reveal good citizenship and a reduction of corruption, fraud, waste, abuse, and immorality.
Is that right?? I think a lot of ills in the present day world is done in the name of a God!
I asked a Chinese friend of mine, perhaps 3 or 4 years ago, what China was going to do about the environment. I think, at that time, they were building the great dams, flooding farmland and displacing whole villages.
He reassured me that China had the environment on its list of "things to do", but that the environment was at the bottom.
He told me China's first goal was to be number one in the world economically. The next goals were education and food for the people. Human rights and the environment were at the bottom of the list.
He reassured me that China would accomplish all of these goals, but it would take time.
My friend and I did not discuss government corruption or the efficacy of the "new" Communist party. However, the corruption is a holdover from to original communist structure, in which local representatives of "the party" always seemed to have a little bit more than everyone else.
Eradicating the idea of "looking the other way", or just accepting that the ruling party always has its way, is ingrained in Chinese culture--from the monarchies to the present system.
Happily, the idea of rebellion and government criticism has taken root. How long until the people and the environment will really be protected?
Perhaps sanctions from trading partners, if they can forego the cheap Chinese goods, would be a way to pressure them to consider human rights and the environment. But alas, the world economy depends on cheap Chinese goods.
He reassured me that China had the environment on its list of "things to do", but that the environment was at the bottom.
He told me China's first goal was to be number one in the world economically. The next goals were education and food for the people. Human rights and the environment were at the bottom of the list.
He reassured me that China would accomplish all of these goals, but it would take time.
My friend and I did not discuss government corruption or the efficacy of the "new" Communist party. However, the corruption is a holdover from to original communist structure, in which local representatives of "the party" always seemed to have a little bit more than everyone else.
Eradicating the idea of "looking the other way", or just accepting that the ruling party always has its way, is ingrained in Chinese culture--from the monarchies to the present system.
Happily, the idea of rebellion and government criticism has taken root. How long until the people and the environment will really be protected?
Perhaps sanctions from trading partners, if they can forego the cheap Chinese goods, would be a way to pressure them to consider human rights and the environment. But alas, the world economy depends on cheap Chinese goods.
The conduct that gave rise to these events reflects a general attitude of superiority and invincibility that pervades in China's leaders. When you add to that the belief that it cannot happen here, you have a all the ingredients for a disaster. This also helps explain other current developments in China as well.
" a closed political system rife with graft"
Shorter: communist.
Shorter: communist.
Unfortunately, this story could happen in any country, not only in the country with "rapid industrialization in a closed political system rife with corruption."
Let's remember how 3m gallons of toxic mining waste from Gold King Mine into Colorado’s Animas River was dumped in a river in America a few weeks ago.
Let's remember how 3m gallons of toxic mining waste from Gold King Mine into Colorado’s Animas River was dumped in a river in America a few weeks ago.
1
Quite true! You hammered the head of the nail. People are too fast in condemning their adversaries. Thus stories like the Walmart, the Koch brothers and even one guy mentioned the belief of God all surfaced out. How sad!
just like among the 9/11 first responders, the true death toll won't be known until years from now. I can't believe there are people out there who are so callous and irresponsible.
This is a sad reality that is not going to change with one such incident no matter how serious the damage to environment and human life. What else do we expect - were not these jobs allowed to move to the developing countries because the costs were unsustainable for the West? Was that not the grand bargain where every one went home happy? This is the true collateral damage that will recur as more industrial activity shifts to the developing world. You must understand that the cost of human life is simply not valued on par in developing countries as they are in the West. The classical debate - an American worker in China is an 'expat' but a Mexican worker in America is an 'immigrant'
1
During my work in China, I dealt with various Chinese "licensing" agencies - all without exceptions linked to the government (central or municipal). Having "good friends" and providing a better than good time to inspectors is the way to secure a Chinese license. From the technical perspective, the inspection conducted by non-technical "inspectors" assigned to the job by the same government and focusing more on irrelevant issues rather than technical, safety, reliability, functionality, etc., makes the licensing a fraud, a rubber stamping but a very expensive process. The personnel of the regulatory and licensing organizations are young and obviously inexperienced, under the control of experienced and well-polished old guard politicians responsible to apply the government guidelines which have nothing to do with technical aspects. "Regulations" for licensing can change overnight and at whim without any technical or safety logic. Not surprising, the licensing and safety government organizations are among the "legal" violators of the same regulations they impose. Moreover, international technical and safety regulations are manipulated by the licensing agencies to reflect the “Chinese way”. The “Chinese way” license is very different in requirements and cost for the foreign companies compared with a very lax approach for Chinese companies. Therefore, there is no surprise when disasters happen…
For all those parents who pushed their children to learn Mandarin: Do you still think China is going to take over the world and we'd all be speaking Chinese? (BTW, for years all the young in China have been learning English voraciously. There is no economic benefit to Americans to know Chinese in the future)
China is no different from other countries blindly following the Western industrialism to catch up with the prosperity of the developed world without sparing a thought for safety regulations and environmental concerns landing up with the same hazards as are implied in such a development course.
9
There's an old expression that goes something like this:
"Point a finger at someone, and three others on your hand point back to you".
I'm Canadian, and together with the U.S. we as "new world" countries have no right to chastise anyone else. We have polluted and destroyed vast parts of North America in the pursuit of wealth andy material gains.
Every week, one can easily find some sort of pollution incident, train derailment, a banded mine recurrence of pollution, and so on and so forth.
So before we point the finger at someone else, let's refer to that old biblical phrase (I'm not religious but like the phrase):
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
"Point a finger at someone, and three others on your hand point back to you".
I'm Canadian, and together with the U.S. we as "new world" countries have no right to chastise anyone else. We have polluted and destroyed vast parts of North America in the pursuit of wealth andy material gains.
Every week, one can easily find some sort of pollution incident, train derailment, a banded mine recurrence of pollution, and so on and so forth.
So before we point the finger at someone else, let's refer to that old biblical phrase (I'm not religious but like the phrase):
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
7
The US exported its hazardous industries to China, which was willing to take it on for the sake of development.
I don't really see why we should expect anything different than what the NY Times has reported. The Chinese government is as rapacious as any and benefits from censorship that denies and covers up anything that would be detrimental to its image. The government cannot enforce what it has put on paper and probably has no idea of what standards it can impose. Besides, local officials can always be bought off. It will take a very long time before corruption, lax enforcement, and concern for its vast population becomes possible let alone real.
4
I found this article to be very informative. I thought it was very comprehensive and gave a good picture of what's going on in the industrial world of China. I want to congratulate the NY Times for their efforts. Keep up the good work.
11
Tianjin Blast and the corruption that led to it, reminds me of the tragedy of Sewol ferry that occured last year in South Korea which took hundreds of innocent kids' lives. This kind of incident is something that will never be forgotten from the mind of those who have witnessed it.
3
China has many problems, but it is developing a culture of oversight and safety regulation. It is still better than many other countries. The narrative of corruption is tiresome -- we need only look to the West, Texas ammonium nitrate explosion and the regular corruption arrests of NYC Building Inspectors and the fiasco of the Deutsche Bank fire to see that China is not unique.
8
Yes, and when a Han River bridge collapsed in Seoul, Korea a few years back, there was a joke about the bridge inspector. When told to accompany some investigators to the site of the collapsed bridge, he wanted to know where it was located! He had, of course, signed the inspection report and his finances were in excellent shape!
1
The Chinese government might be negligent to security under the pressure of targets of economic growth, but only during "peaceful" times. A globally headline-making and potentially subverting accident, like this one, could establish attention and care of even the central government. In a country without suffrage, freedom of speech and balance of power, activists, environmentalists and scholars should really catch such precious chances to make a change beneficial for even the whole world.
2
Industry accident is not exclusive to China. Lax in environment regulation, Texas leads the nation in industry accident because for years elected politicians in Texas are controlled by oil, gas and chemical industries either through campaign contribution and largess doles out by lobbyist. The worst industry accident in US happened in Texas City where 2300 tons of ammonium nitrate detonated killing around 600 people. There was a recent massive explosion in West Fertilizer plan in West (close to Waco) and at least 11 people die.
20
"the high cost of rapid industrialization in a closed political system lacking oversight and rife with graft."
Sound familiar, anyone?
Sound familiar, anyone?
3
"Federal investigators have determined that a lack of oversight and regulations at the local, state and federal levels contributed to the deadly fertilizer plant explosion that devastated a rural Texas town last year."
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/us/lack-of-oversight-and-regulations-b...
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/us/lack-of-oversight-and-regulations-b...
5
And when all of the non-compliant companies in the US have a catastrophic event they and the public blame the government for letting it happen. That nasty Big Government that hampers businesses yet it is that same Big Government's for being understaffed and underfunded (hence, small) for failing to prevent a disaster. I can just hear Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity going on and on if this had happened in our country.
6
As the popular American saying goes
"What goes around comes around"
Sooner or later the Chinese workers will inevitably evolve,like the US ones did after the strikebreakers period way back when Americans worked for peanuts and the cosa nostra took over the unions,etc and develope strong unions regardless of Beijing's dictatorship. When that happens it will be the workers who acquire more actual power because they are the ones who support China's industrial might !
In fact in some ways China is becoming more capitalist and teh West more socialist !
Anyway whichever way we look at it the whole World is continuously and rapidly changing. These changes WILL affect everyone everywhere.
It is the wise, not necessarily the wealthy or powerful, who recognize change before it happens and who focus on the winds of change !
Smart folk will plan whatever future may be left for humanity in line with how they conceive those changes, the rest will become victims of them !
British expat foreign correspondent
Radio SHOCKJOCK
Writer-director
"What goes around comes around"
Sooner or later the Chinese workers will inevitably evolve,like the US ones did after the strikebreakers period way back when Americans worked for peanuts and the cosa nostra took over the unions,etc and develope strong unions regardless of Beijing's dictatorship. When that happens it will be the workers who acquire more actual power because they are the ones who support China's industrial might !
In fact in some ways China is becoming more capitalist and teh West more socialist !
Anyway whichever way we look at it the whole World is continuously and rapidly changing. These changes WILL affect everyone everywhere.
It is the wise, not necessarily the wealthy or powerful, who recognize change before it happens and who focus on the winds of change !
Smart folk will plan whatever future may be left for humanity in line with how they conceive those changes, the rest will become victims of them !
British expat foreign correspondent
Radio SHOCKJOCK
Writer-director
2
More than 15 years ago I took a group of my college students and their families on a trip to China. We stayed in ordinary binguan, and ate in ordinary canguan We visited the Great Wall in Huanghua cheng - we all loved the kindness of the small restaurants in that area. Then we decided to travel to the eastern end of the Changcheng, Shanhaiguan. My students, their family members and mine, all loved this old area, but we were shocked by the fact that a binguan refused to let us sleep for the night because we were "foreigners" (老外). I wrote a letter to Jiang Zemin on the ride home about our mostly positive experiences, plus this big negative one, and we all signed it. To our surprise, Jiang Zemin replied to my letter. We know that the government of China can listen to people.
My wife, Li Xiuzhen, taught for about 37 years in Tianjin. She grew up in, and lived on, Munandao (睦南道). Now she wants to go back to see how her friends house, and relatives are, but I don't want her to. I'm worried about the danger of air and water pollution (污染).
Although I've been an ordinary teacher for more than 48 years, I was a graduate of the Cooper Union In NYC, so I have some scientific knowledge left in my brain, and I'm urging her not to go because China, a country I love, has allowed robber-baron companies to do whatever they want to with her country. She doesn't want to listen to me. Is there anyone in this great country of China who can stop this raping of the environment??
My wife, Li Xiuzhen, taught for about 37 years in Tianjin. She grew up in, and lived on, Munandao (睦南道). Now she wants to go back to see how her friends house, and relatives are, but I don't want her to. I'm worried about the danger of air and water pollution (污染).
Although I've been an ordinary teacher for more than 48 years, I was a graduate of the Cooper Union In NYC, so I have some scientific knowledge left in my brain, and I'm urging her not to go because China, a country I love, has allowed robber-baron companies to do whatever they want to with her country. She doesn't want to listen to me. Is there anyone in this great country of China who can stop this raping of the environment??
3
Flouted regulations and corruption. Are those not the real reason the Cayman-Island-Leveraged-buyout-crowd, and their politician clients, chose to send America's Industrial might to their Communist Chinese partners?
10
1
Remember what happened here when you hear about excess gov. regulations impeding growth or jobs. Human nature and laws of physics do not just apply in China.
6
in the US what ever happened to COAL MINE SAFETY .........
1
Critics recklessly comment saying in happens here (US) too, far too conveniently forget that life is so very civilized in a open society bound by rule of law.
This kind of horrendous tragedy of Tianjin can happen only in a corrupt, authoritarian state, where things get done based on relationships and where there's no rule of law or system of independent checks and balances. And in a country when quite few spent their last few decades trying make quick buck with no moral restraint.
No more commentary is required of a country capable to performing act of Houdini landing 2022 Winter Olympic bid without natural snow but on manufactured one!
This kind of horrendous tragedy of Tianjin can happen only in a corrupt, authoritarian state, where things get done based on relationships and where there's no rule of law or system of independent checks and balances. And in a country when quite few spent their last few decades trying make quick buck with no moral restraint.
No more commentary is required of a country capable to performing act of Houdini landing 2022 Winter Olympic bid without natural snow but on manufactured one!
5
Makes you wonder about China's increasing reliance on nuclear power reactors for generating electricity.
2
Ya, and three mile isle is lost on you.
1
And what about the recent Fukuyama nuclear leaking in Japan?
Here's what a lack of regulation hath wrought. And the Republicans want to go back to unfettered, unregulated capitalism. Subsidized, but unregulated. The robber barons should be able to have their cake and eat it, too.
4
Much has been said of China's decades-long phenomenal growth, and that the world is now trembling in fear because China's growth rate has slowed to "only 7%." But it must be clear now that blindingly fast Chinese economic growth was largely due to corners cut, rules flouted and ignored, and safety regulations laughed at, along with casual, everyday bribery, cheating and corruption. (Let's also not forget that the Communist Party is an authoritarian police state, and that those who point out instances of corruption or criticize government officials get thrown into a big, black pit.) Getting proper inspections and licensing, giving employees proper training and safety equipment, using up-to-code construction materials -- all this costs money and reduces growth. So when we hear that China's economy has "grown" by some lofty percentage, what we should do is discount that statistic heavily, which would bring it down to more normal international growth rates.
When we figure in the 68,000 people killed in industrial accidents (just in 2014), we find that the growth discount was very costly in terms of lives.
Besides, when it comes to statistics coming from Communist Party officials of any sized district, and from all across the country, we know they are prone to considerable inflation to make unreasonable growth quotas and to make themselves look good, and so should not be trusted.
When we figure in the 68,000 people killed in industrial accidents (just in 2014), we find that the growth discount was very costly in terms of lives.
Besides, when it comes to statistics coming from Communist Party officials of any sized district, and from all across the country, we know they are prone to considerable inflation to make unreasonable growth quotas and to make themselves look good, and so should not be trusted.
36
Not to different from the capitalism going on here in the United States. Essentially, just like any other business, someone with means saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. Just the grim circumstances exemplifies how these corporations have such a lack of empathy in how and when they conduct themselves.
3
Yes, it is different. There are any checks and balanced in China. For instance, the reporting of the NYTimes is banned in China.
1
Just a couple of days ago the Huffington Post published an expose of DuPont that was not about a massive explosion, but the mass poisoning over decades likely dwarfs Tianjin in the harm done.
Here in the USA our so-called system for regulating chemical production has been so weakened and corrupted by lobbyists that we have allowed DuPont to poison people with the extremely toxic chemicals used to make teflon. Chemical toxicity they knew of decades ago and covered up as long as they could, until the deaths, agonizing disease and deformities were finally revealed, too obvious and numerous to hide anymore. Now made public (see the article link below). Making billions while knowingly poisoning many, many people. Knowingly! Paying off a paltry few hundred million out of the many billions in profits. With no criminal charges in sight. How corrupt is that? Will the guilty be brought to justice? Here in the USA?
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-park...
Here in the USA our so-called system for regulating chemical production has been so weakened and corrupted by lobbyists that we have allowed DuPont to poison people with the extremely toxic chemicals used to make teflon. Chemical toxicity they knew of decades ago and covered up as long as they could, until the deaths, agonizing disease and deformities were finally revealed, too obvious and numerous to hide anymore. Now made public (see the article link below). Making billions while knowingly poisoning many, many people. Knowingly! Paying off a paltry few hundred million out of the many billions in profits. With no criminal charges in sight. How corrupt is that? Will the guilty be brought to justice? Here in the USA?
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-park...
8
No wonder the Chinese are so successful. They do things over there just like we do, like regulating and overseeing their chemical companies like we regulate and oversee our oil companies.
3
It was terrible what happened in Tianjin, yes. But government/industry collusion is not just the province of China as so many of the comments suggest. It's alive and well here too as Mariah Blake's long-form article in the Huffington Post demonstrates so vividly.
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-park...
http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-park...
7
The Chinese communist government and the Texas Republican government have identical views of non-regulated free enterprise. Remember that little town in Texas that was blown to smithereens due to lack of safety oversight and regulation. Funny, never woulda thought that Texan Republicans would think like communists.
8
Yeah, that's why we're better than the Chinese. In America it's our environmental regulatory agency that releases millions of gallons of toxic waste into our rivers, not some unregulated 'profit' motivated criminals!
3
Remember the explosion in West, Texas? A bunch of volunteer firefighters were killed there too! A seniors' centre right across the road! Such development should never have been allowed near that facility. But they did and no one said a thing.
3
Ironically, as this well-researched article proves, Chinese capitalists make John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie look like flaming Marxists by comparison.
4
When I began reading this article, it made me think of such an accident happening in the United States if it were not for the Democrat Party. If it were left up to the Republican Party, the Environmental Protection Agency would not exist for the betterment of business - and thus the chances of this type of accident occurring in the US would be most certain. As much as Republicans denounce labor unions, unions watch over management to ensure employees are treated fairly and are not subjected to hazardous and unsafe environments.
In the case of China, a one party political system does not have the checks and balances that a pluralistic, political parties offer where economic production is paramount to rules and laws that are needed to prevent such an accident. Even the whistleblower laws contribute as a control needed to prevent such a horrible accident that can claim so many innocents.
In the case of China, a one party political system does not have the checks and balances that a pluralistic, political parties offer where economic production is paramount to rules and laws that are needed to prevent such an accident. Even the whistleblower laws contribute as a control needed to prevent such a horrible accident that can claim so many innocents.
7
This is undoubtedly an industrial disaster of tragic proportions, and no doubt the usual mix of greed, corruption and cynical disregard for workers' safety are behind it. But thepress coverage seems to be a little imbalanced in its criticism of china. Just a reminder: May 2014 more than 300 people died in a mining accident in turkey, and death rates in turkeys coal mining industry are the highest of any country in tbe world - higher than chinas. I don't recall the Nyt or other US press pointing to the massive corruption and naked greed rife in turkey's rspidly growing economy, but then turkey is a staunch US ally ... let's facr iy greed and belief in unfettered growth will lead to disasters like this all over the world. This is not a problem specific to china.
4
Miles, I agree. This borders on China-bashing.
2
Beware the Kochs. If they get their psychopathic way. there will be many more Tianjins here.
4
Next time you hear a t-Party Republican spouting off about his pro growth and anti- regulation agenda, remember this Tainjin. We will never know how many people have been killed as a direct result of this explosion. How many more will be killed or sickened as a result of exposure to these toxins will never be known either. They paid the price for this economic progress.
6
Far too many people believe regulations and rules are invented by meddling bureaucrats. They are not. In most cases they are written by the dead and maimed. Like most countries, China is learning the hard way. Our own regulations were born of such disasters . The Triangle Fire. Three Mile Island. Love Canal. The steamship Sultana. Human hubris is not exclusive to any country or culture.
14
Geez, do you suppose this is the same country and culture that allows business people to adulterate milk and kill children, produce bogus medications, tolerates unbridled graft and greed, and considers lives far less important than goods?
Who would have thunk it?
Who would have thunk it?
4
Sounds like Texas. Remember the West Fertilizer Factory explosion Oct., 2013? Same syndrome. Our country.
4
I wish the NYT would stop acting as if reactive, toxic and flammable substances are all the same thing; they aren't. You can be one and not the other; maybe you are maybe you aren't. The differences are important.
I also wish the NYT would stop acting as if the Chinese government is a legitimate body with the interest of its' citizens in mind. It's not. Its' action have repeatedly shown the Chinese government is nothing but a collection of self serving thugs. Full investigation indeed. They no exactly what caused the blast and are only preparing their spin documents.
I also wish the NYT would stop acting as if the Chinese government is a legitimate body with the interest of its' citizens in mind. It's not. Its' action have repeatedly shown the Chinese government is nothing but a collection of self serving thugs. Full investigation indeed. They no exactly what caused the blast and are only preparing their spin documents.
2
We are blessed as the nation that we have solved all our problems here at home so we can afford to bother with the corruption of the foreign countries.
The only objective of learning from the rest of the world is to be able to apply the gathered knowledge here at home.
What have the NYT reporters recommended regarding our lobbyists corrupting the elected representatives and the Supreme Court? The Justices believe that the money is freedom of speech and that the corporations are equal to the people.
What about those as the worst examples of the global corruption? No editors willing to dispatch the team of reporters to do the investigative reporting on this topic?
If I have no money, does it mean that I have no freedom of speech either, meaning that our Supreme Court has violated the US Constitution by issuing the supremely stupid judicial ruling?
The only objective of learning from the rest of the world is to be able to apply the gathered knowledge here at home.
What have the NYT reporters recommended regarding our lobbyists corrupting the elected representatives and the Supreme Court? The Justices believe that the money is freedom of speech and that the corporations are equal to the people.
What about those as the worst examples of the global corruption? No editors willing to dispatch the team of reporters to do the investigative reporting on this topic?
If I have no money, does it mean that I have no freedom of speech either, meaning that our Supreme Court has violated the US Constitution by issuing the supremely stupid judicial ruling?
4
The damage is unbelievable! Those poor firefighters who had no idea what they were dealing with when they responded to the initial fire. The residents in the area were told that only "common goods" were being stored at the facility. Very few people knew about the hazardous chemicals being stored in the warehouse. This is totally unacceptable. China must do more to protect its citizens from such corruption. End local corruption and no billionaire party members either!
3
The Chinese are working hard, very hard, to improve regulation and increase business honesty. I fail to understand the myopic writing of this article, as though the United States had experienced no such problems as China. There seems to be a need to belittle the Chinese that has nothing to do with problem solving.
2
What belittling of the Chinese occurs here? I don't see it. Please provide specific examples. Oh wait -- you can't, because there aren't any. Nothing about the article is insulting to the Chinese, except that it has the temerity to expose the horrors occurring as a result of rampant graft and corruption inside China's destructive, broken system. I thought the article was very even-handed and sympathetic to the people abused and slaughtered by out-of-control industry and corruption. Gosh, "Nancy," it's almost as if you're a member of the 50 Cent Party, someone paid by the Chinese government to attack any critical coverage of China by news organizations. Your tired argument is that we should mind our own business, but this affects everyone around the world, because China is very influential. Plus, your anemic, restricted news organizations aren't going to do it, in most cases. Someone has to stand up for all the victims in China, the people who didn't even know they were living too close to hazardous chemicals.
This must confuse some conservatives who view "over"-regulation as socialist, communist, authoritarian, against freedom, etc., and here is a communist authoritarian government not imposing regulations or oversight. Such tragedies will occur in the absence of regulation and oversight, with or without government pushing development - after all, businesses left on their own, as we have seen here, are all too happy to ignore externalities of their activities; in this case, they have a government that doesn't care at all, or when some do, petty corruption at the lower levels. We instead fomalize such activities with an accommodating regulatory structure and lax oversight.
5
The problem is not over regulation or under regulation, but mis-regulation. Are government inspectors measuring the heights of the toilets while crates of dynamite are stacked in the halls?
Unfortunately, government bureaucracy doesn't lend itself to concentrating on important matters - just the opposite is likely to be the case. That's why the reams of bank regulations were useless when 2008 rolled around.
Unfortunately, government bureaucracy doesn't lend itself to concentrating on important matters - just the opposite is likely to be the case. That's why the reams of bank regulations were useless when 2008 rolled around.
3
China, Bangla Desh, USA, Russia, India and in the rest of the world, the story is the same albeit with different actors. When there is a confluence of crooks, law and regulation enforcement agencies and Politicians, innocents die.
Some condolences, feigned outrage, setting up of investigations ( which very obviously go nowhere ),some declared compensations ( which never ever reaches the victims' families ) and then it is business as usual. Who cares for a few deaths ?Only families are left with a permanent void and total ruin having lost their only breadwinner. Man has stooped so low!! Atrocious !!But atrocities is the new norm for us, degenerates!
Some condolences, feigned outrage, setting up of investigations ( which very obviously go nowhere ),some declared compensations ( which never ever reaches the victims' families ) and then it is business as usual. Who cares for a few deaths ?Only families are left with a permanent void and total ruin having lost their only breadwinner. Man has stooped so low!! Atrocious !!But atrocities is the new norm for us, degenerates!
5
About compensations reaching victims' families, it reminds me of how the biggest democracy in the world handled the Union Carbide disaster at Bhopal in 1984. 5600 people died on the altar of American capitalism, numerous more suffered permanent disabilities. Little of the compensations went to victims and their families.
3
Founder of the American republic very elegantly observed "“If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
Much against the logic, Chinese and many other countries admiring its "efficiency" seems to have believed that China have somehow managed to angels to govern the country. But the Tianjin Tragedy had laid rest the ill logical admiration.
India a nascent multiparty state on the other hand has long way indeed to catch up with advanced democracies in governance, but by far better than China.
Happily, our nation’s founders clearly saw the advantages of West Minister type of governance even if it meant to be hardly glamorous, brilliantly sought to limit the danger of one-party rule by establishing a political system with numerous checks and balances but slowing the decision making process.
The beauty of our democratic system is that it is self-correcting. But sometimes the badly checked power pushes parties to excess, like it happened during Congress party rule giving safe passage to Warren Anderson of Union Carbide under whose watch the poisonous gas leak killed thousands in Bhopal.
Probably it is an inherent part of both human nature and the nature of government.
Much against the logic, Chinese and many other countries admiring its "efficiency" seems to have believed that China have somehow managed to angels to govern the country. But the Tianjin Tragedy had laid rest the ill logical admiration.
India a nascent multiparty state on the other hand has long way indeed to catch up with advanced democracies in governance, but by far better than China.
Happily, our nation’s founders clearly saw the advantages of West Minister type of governance even if it meant to be hardly glamorous, brilliantly sought to limit the danger of one-party rule by establishing a political system with numerous checks and balances but slowing the decision making process.
The beauty of our democratic system is that it is self-correcting. But sometimes the badly checked power pushes parties to excess, like it happened during Congress party rule giving safe passage to Warren Anderson of Union Carbide under whose watch the poisonous gas leak killed thousands in Bhopal.
Probably it is an inherent part of both human nature and the nature of government.
3
The Chinese system is corrupt to the core. It combines the worst features of a totalitarian government AND unchecked capitalism run by that totalitarian government. Chinese industrialists, pay the bribes, reckon up the chances of getting caught, and forge ahead, poisoning their own citizens, building schools in which their children die, and all the cynical rest of what they do.
Don't buy Chinese. When you don't spend money with them, you refrain from propping up their system. DON'T buy Chinese. Spend the money to buy goods from other countries- like, for example, those made here.
Don't buy Chinese. When you don't spend money with them, you refrain from propping up their system. DON'T buy Chinese. Spend the money to buy goods from other countries- like, for example, those made here.
10
There is no equivalent of the EPA in China. There is no equivalent of OSHA in China. The world's most polluted air and high number of workplace disasters attest to that.
4
I feel like investigating the Chinese market is a lose-lose situation; if we investigate and find something wrong, we will boycott the market, causing many people to lose their jobs. If we don't investigate, we are showing that we don't condemn corruption, and others will start becoming more corrupt and things will become worse.
This is exactly what is happening right here under our nose in the Koch Party Run States and the candidates they are running for president. When they get control of a State they move in with a self-contained fully staffed, fully funded parallel system of Govt. defunding, making deals behind closed doors, changing laws, dereg., packing courts, boards, councils destroying workers rights, closing down education systems they can't control, and plumbing the environment for every resource they can get their hands on . Wake up America.
5
Flouting regulations, whole sale corruption, greed etc is just not a chines problem. It is far worst in this country where corporation all people. Banks are too big to fall. Self interest, self righteous corrupt to the hilt politicians, DOD cash cow, good old boys who run red and blue states . Totally flawed/ broken Judicial system. 90% of the people have no confidence in the US Congress. We pander and sell freaking democracy, the word that is no where mentioned in the Constitution and nor do we practice it our selves. The country has become a militarized police state.
4
With the coming of the Trans Pacific Partnership thanks to CEO Obomba, we can look forward to the same industrial standards here, "Regulations? We don't need no stinking regulations".
2
We already have it worst with the likes of Koch brothers, Walton's and others, who can buy elections. The banking system is run by thugs and the likes of Clinton hog wash that repealed the Glass-Steagall Act to deregulate the banking and fiscal industry, and the conservative republican dominated US Supreme Court appointed for life declaring that corporations are people.
2
The event in China is not an isolated incident globally, and making this appear to be a "Chinese" problem or blasting China serves to diminish what should be a learning experience for any developed/developing nation.
When we move forward, solely in the name of progress, worshiping a God of Money, we often take shortcuts at the expense of the common man. Those affected are generally those with the least Agency, unable to stand up to the powers that be.
This is where government can shine. Part of the government's role should be to allow the growth of industry, and the making of money, but without infringing upon the livelihood and safety of the average citizen. An explosion is shock and awe, and garners news attention, but what about the continuous polluting of water tables, the destruction of the environment, and the pilfering of the Earth's resources for the benefit of a few in nearly every country across the globe?
The US is moving in a direction that will make the small amount of regulation in China look appealing. At least China has an anti-corruption campaign in place, even if it is for show. We move ahead, embarking on another era of robber barons, allowing the deregulation of nearly every industry for the benefit of a few at the expense of the rest.
It's time for a change.
When we move forward, solely in the name of progress, worshiping a God of Money, we often take shortcuts at the expense of the common man. Those affected are generally those with the least Agency, unable to stand up to the powers that be.
This is where government can shine. Part of the government's role should be to allow the growth of industry, and the making of money, but without infringing upon the livelihood and safety of the average citizen. An explosion is shock and awe, and garners news attention, but what about the continuous polluting of water tables, the destruction of the environment, and the pilfering of the Earth's resources for the benefit of a few in nearly every country across the globe?
The US is moving in a direction that will make the small amount of regulation in China look appealing. At least China has an anti-corruption campaign in place, even if it is for show. We move ahead, embarking on another era of robber barons, allowing the deregulation of nearly every industry for the benefit of a few at the expense of the rest.
It's time for a change.
9
Well said! I wish people in the U.S. will see what you see.
In my once liveable city of Vancouver the average house price is 15 times average household income because of the avalanche of dirty corrupt Chinese money, the profits from Communist apparatchiks killing Chinese workers.
8
Doug, you should consider why the Chinese are buying Vancouver. It's because they don't want to live in China.
1
"Rui Hai began handling hazardous chemicals before it obtained a permit to do so, and it secured licenses and approvals from at least five local agencies that conducted questionable reviews of its operations."
This has always been the case, for government officials to drag out the licensing process and to extort bribe from businesses who want to speed up the process.
The governance in China has always been opaque, from government regulations and enforcement, down to the auditing and compliance of public companies and private ones alike; everywhere you look, you can buy what you need with just the right connections and grease things with enough bribe. Every chinese know of this, but they live with it considering it the necessary evil that comes with fast-speed growth that Beijing seemed capable of delivering in years past, but that's not so easy to swallow when economy is faltering and people still have to pay bribe for diminishing returns.
There is no clear path to follow. The anti-corruption campaign from Xi might sound great, but mostly it's just propaganda to bring down opposing forces to Xi. No one is going to look too closely on Xi's own network, families, and associates as long as he's still in power.
Well, this is China, what's new?
This has always been the case, for government officials to drag out the licensing process and to extort bribe from businesses who want to speed up the process.
The governance in China has always been opaque, from government regulations and enforcement, down to the auditing and compliance of public companies and private ones alike; everywhere you look, you can buy what you need with just the right connections and grease things with enough bribe. Every chinese know of this, but they live with it considering it the necessary evil that comes with fast-speed growth that Beijing seemed capable of delivering in years past, but that's not so easy to swallow when economy is faltering and people still have to pay bribe for diminishing returns.
There is no clear path to follow. The anti-corruption campaign from Xi might sound great, but mostly it's just propaganda to bring down opposing forces to Xi. No one is going to look too closely on Xi's own network, families, and associates as long as he's still in power.
Well, this is China, what's new?
5
The top priority of the Men in Black in Beijing is to protect the regime, i.e., themselves. At all costs.
4
Rotten, that is the best way to describe the Chinese system of government. We, in America, should be glad it is so, as it will in the not too distant future bring about the root of major political change. Liberty and freedom are 'hard wired' into us as humans, and so it will be with the people in China. Time is on our side.
2
Coolhunter, I wish I could agree with you, but I suspect greed and lack of empathy might be our true hard wiring.
Look around the globe and to history, liberty and freedom are pretty consistently the minority position.
Look around the globe and to history, liberty and freedom are pretty consistently the minority position.
1
And yet the West has scurried to sell them resources or even production infrastructure, to invest in their ghost cities, to court their billion consumers and to hail the "economic miracle." China was the next free lunch, allowing proponents of unlimited growth to extend their toppling curve another decade or two.
We need to seriously consider whether there aren't a thousand Rui Hai's lurking across this blighted landscape, ready to implode. Sure they're on another continent, but there's really only one ocean.
We need to seriously consider whether there aren't a thousand Rui Hai's lurking across this blighted landscape, ready to implode. Sure they're on another continent, but there's really only one ocean.
3
Meanwhile in the well-regulated and incorruptible good ole USA guys like Rick Perry built wooden storage bunkers for fertilizers next to apartments and schools, Repugs and Kochs accelerate the climate change deny, worker safety is gutted, the regulated run the regulators in food and pharma, and the Kochs' little brother ALEC provides ready-made legistlation to destroy unions, and Kochs and other plutos have bought a Congress where the public interest is priority one billionth.
3
If the they claim 145 died- most likely 14,500 died. China is not noted for truth in media.
4
There are many pockets of corruption in North America just not as graphic as this.
3
I've been to China many times and have much affection for that ancient country. But with so many environmental problems, I cannot understand why so many of our food corporations continue to use Chinese plants to make our food products. For instance, even after the pet food disaster that killed many American cats and dogs, the same companies still process pet food in China. Even the most basic ingredient, water, is terribly polluted in that country. You can't drink unboiled water, and even boiling doesn't remove chemical pollutants.
8
Makes one wonder about how many safety and quality inspections are "purchased" in the assembly of the A320 not to mention the world's largest drug companies "manufacturing" our drugs in China.
4
Bribes and corruption may not include transfer of money, but may well be in the form of votes.
This accident brings to mind a discussion about the approval of copper and nickel mining that is currently ongoing in the Minnesota legislation. The mining location is situated in the pristine wilderness of northern Minnesota, and in the Lake Superior watershed.
The mining company has promised to setup an environmental cleanup fund in the event of an accident or spill. However a spill will contaminate the watershed for 500 years. Yes, there was no typo, it's 500 years. That is longer than the time of the Pilgrims. Notwithstanding the ridiculousness of having a fund that will last 500 years, the fact that the Minnesota legislative body is even considering approving the mining operation baffles anyone with minimal common sense.
As one can see, the U.S. is not immune to short sighted politicians willing to ignore potential environmental impact in the name of quick profits and a few votes.
This accident brings to mind a discussion about the approval of copper and nickel mining that is currently ongoing in the Minnesota legislation. The mining location is situated in the pristine wilderness of northern Minnesota, and in the Lake Superior watershed.
The mining company has promised to setup an environmental cleanup fund in the event of an accident or spill. However a spill will contaminate the watershed for 500 years. Yes, there was no typo, it's 500 years. That is longer than the time of the Pilgrims. Notwithstanding the ridiculousness of having a fund that will last 500 years, the fact that the Minnesota legislative body is even considering approving the mining operation baffles anyone with minimal common sense.
As one can see, the U.S. is not immune to short sighted politicians willing to ignore potential environmental impact in the name of quick profits and a few votes.
5
If only Americans cared as much about "the collusion of business and corrupt officials" in the US; perhaps then our own middle class could survive.
4
We're looking at China as if what happened there was somehow unique. It was all that long ago where West, Texas experience the same thing when the fertilizer plant blew up. Lax or non-existent regulation, stifled regulators and a general attitude that "government is bad" bring us to the place where people with few scruples do whatever is needed to maximize their profit - they take the risk for us without us even knowing that they did.
4
This event was horrific, no question. What is disturbing to me is that while many of the commenters have made note of our own disasters, others seem to brush it off with "ours is a fraction". That does not in any way negate our responsibility to do better. If your loved one was a victim, either by death or injury, that 'fraction' does not made for an excuse. Many corporations have on payroll attorneys to either get them "off" or negotiate lower fines. A few responsible are put away, but that is just for show. Citizens of this country should show pride in what we can accomplish, and serve as a model for others. We have the potential, but we need to find a loyalty and dedicated support, but that seems to be lacking for want of will. How easy it seems to slip into the same murk if we loose the will.
2
The Chinese should serve their own market and we should serve ours. Separating the labor from the consumers has been bad for the population of the United States. We can't afford to stay these stupid neoliberal ideas, the Chinese vastly outnumber us and we can't lift them on our backs. Rather we need trade policies that protect our people and our own economy.
This is part of why Sanders will defeat Clinton in the end.
This is part of why Sanders will defeat Clinton in the end.
5
What cannot be said about the Chinese is that they are naïve. They've imported our proudest and most dubious accomplishment: unfettered capitalism that disregards humanity in search of ever-higher profits for an ever-shrinking minority.
Of course, as holds true for both the über wealthy and the communist élite, the people will only go so long being treated as pieces of crumb before rising up.
In China this may take a violent form.
Of course, as holds true for both the über wealthy and the communist élite, the people will only go so long being treated as pieces of crumb before rising up.
In China this may take a violent form.
11
It was violent before and it may be again….you can't hold the majority of people down for long before they organize and rise up against their oppressors. China is afraid of social unrest….and here it comes.
This is what you get when your government consists of illegitimate, unelected dictators who run the country for the benefit of themselves and their cronies. Kind of like Iran without the religion and the costumes.
In essence, what you have here is a huge racket, not so indistinguishable from a situation where the Mafia was running things.
In essence, what you have here is a huge racket, not so indistinguishable from a situation where the Mafia was running things.
10
Exactly. Put more succinctly, China is a Mafia State. Every profitable venture in China has a government "partner", who "protects" them from "bad people".
8
The only difference between this and the West Fertilizer Company explosion in Texas in 2013 is scale and the fact that the Texans choose to elect people to every office they can who will fight any regulation of any industry that they can based on political ideology.
I don't know which is worse, naked greed there or greed disguised, rationalized and justified as 'freedom' and 'liberty' here.
I don't know which is worse, naked greed there or greed disguised, rationalized and justified as 'freedom' and 'liberty' here.
67
Yes, the scale is different and that is crucial. Green is everywhere but in China there's much weaker control of it.
I also know that greed that kills people is mouch worse than whatever people say about it.
I also know that greed that kills people is mouch worse than whatever people say about it.
3
This is reminiscent of the explosion of the West Fertilizer Company, in West, Texas, in 2013. It also brings to mind the explosion of the SS Grandcamp at Texas City, Texas, in 1947.
Technology and protocols to safely handle, store and transport hazardous materials exist, and are readily available. Their disregard invariably results in disaster, loss of life, loss of property, disruption of business, and lost profits. The disruption and loss of profits alone should be sufficient for any ardent capitalist to heed the protocols and strictly follow them, and to develop and implement the necessary quality systems to insure their adherence.
Anything less is commercial folly.
Technology and protocols to safely handle, store and transport hazardous materials exist, and are readily available. Their disregard invariably results in disaster, loss of life, loss of property, disruption of business, and lost profits. The disruption and loss of profits alone should be sufficient for any ardent capitalist to heed the protocols and strictly follow them, and to develop and implement the necessary quality systems to insure their adherence.
Anything less is commercial folly.
10
When there is no equitable regulation, the bad invariably undercuts the good.
2
You're correct about the technology and protocols being available... the Department of Homeland Security gave the Port of Providence a grant of just under $600K for a chemical-detection sensor system for both chemical weapons and toxic chemicals. $600K for a system like that seems beyond reasonable to me.
http://www.provport.com/07282010pbn.html
http://www.provport.com/07282010pbn.html
"a closed political system lacking oversight "
Sounds a lot like the "utopia" Republicans would force upon Americans.
We can already see blatant examples. Fertilizer plants blowing up in Texas, Duke Energy spewing out poisons in North Carolina.
And there's more to come folks.
Sounds a lot like the "utopia" Republicans would force upon Americans.
We can already see blatant examples. Fertilizer plants blowing up in Texas, Duke Energy spewing out poisons in North Carolina.
And there's more to come folks.
38
Very sad. The endless creation of products to support demand, and the provide employment is now at a frenzied pitch. When will a dignified and sane life be our greatest priority, with all the attending difficult policy choices to make that happen? A decent wage, population management, education...
3
When the Republicans scream about govt regulations as being oppressive, look at China to see what happens when there are no regulations or regulations are selectively enforced.
27
When I read about industrial accidents, it becomes evident that the effort to avoid responsibility in order to increase profits knows no boundaries. The need for a "government" to ensure the "general welfare" of a nation or a city should not be questioned, nor undermined, as it is clear from the history of industrial accidents that some will seek the path of least resistance to making profit.
It is fallacious to dismiss a Chinese industrial accident by pointing out that industrial accidents happen in the United States or even India. The point of this article is to reveal the problem of corruption and greed. The article revealed that 68,000 people die a year in China from industrial accidents. When I see the weeping of the mothers and father of those who died, the humanity of the Chinese people becomes evident. What isn't revealed is the glum, cold, even evil, cost-benefit analysis the industrialist and even the corrupt official make as they go on their merry way to squeezing the market for more and more profit.
It is fallacious to dismiss a Chinese industrial accident by pointing out that industrial accidents happen in the United States or even India. The point of this article is to reveal the problem of corruption and greed. The article revealed that 68,000 people die a year in China from industrial accidents. When I see the weeping of the mothers and father of those who died, the humanity of the Chinese people becomes evident. What isn't revealed is the glum, cold, even evil, cost-benefit analysis the industrialist and even the corrupt official make as they go on their merry way to squeezing the market for more and more profit.
69
Maybe the government goes along with it, 'if you're gonna make an omelette, you must crack some eggs', for 'the common good'.
The issue in China (and even in India) is systematic. Just executing a few executives and/or officials is not going to change anything. But you can be sure that a few heads will roll (pun intended) to appease public anger, and everything will be back to business-as-usual.
4
Just another sign that in this century, greed has replaced any semblence of morality throughout the world.
Not sure why the comments have turned this into "this happens in the US as well." This article is well-written and informative regarding information that many people outside of China are unaware of. Turning this into an American thing vs China thing misses the point of being INFORMED. Since China is playing an increasingly important role in the global economy, it is necessary that as much information as possible comes into public light. Painting it with any political agenda is foolish and misses the point of free flow information, which China internally does not completely support. We, Americans, need to stop making everything about US and more about the WORLD. Stop getting bogged down in your own personal politics and appreciate "being in the know" for issues that are relevant.
85
This happens everywhere for the same identical reason -- disregard of known precautions, in a blind, mindless rush for profits at any cost. Blood, flesh and bone are such a small prices to be pay for progress, especially when they belong to other people! The corner-cutting wealthy will always find venal political stooges willing to overlook pesky regulations for a "consideration" of whatever type -- outright bribes or campaign contributions. Human nature is universal.
4
Pointing out our shameless legacy of preventable industrial accidents which have led to pollution and deaths, and the GOPs drive for less safety regulations, is not a "political agenda." It is pointing out that if you want environmental protection and industrial safety for workers and the community, you better pay attention to who you vote for.
Nonsense. We need to look at our own industries, particularly the ones that are similar to the ones involved in this accident. It is easy to point the finger and attention elsewhere and ignore the problems that exist on our own soil. Crony capitalism is alive and thriving in the United States as well.
1
Regrettably, moving toward a multi-party system in China will not likely solve the corruption and short-cutting of standards to profiteering. The nation has been incubating the largest community of greedy people engaged in "free enterprise" known to mankind. It is folly to think that these people will somehow disappear or end up in jail or otherwise simply by multiplying the political parties that may stand for election. I think India, Italy and other notable countries, particularly in Latin America, that offer "democracy" should be considered as the role model of modern capitalism for developing countries not the USA - which shines in comparison to China and other despotic chronically corrupt nations. The irony is that "The Peoples Democratic Republic of China" is a hoax. What democracy? For which people does it serve? The CPC is a criminal organization. It serves its members before the "people". The higher up the food chain in the CPC the more benefits. Should we continue doing business with these people? Of course we should, the vast majority will eventually revolt as they and other great nations, as did the original American colonies, against oppressors from outside and within. When the people of China are ready for serious change there will be historic purges of the minions of corrupt power cross the land. They will look to the rest of the world for diplomatic support. We will be tested. Will we 'walk the talk' and support the people instead of a crony regime?
6
The article is right that this industrial accident involving contamination of toxic chemicals is just the tip of iceburge. On a trip to China's far west, which is hundreds of miles away from the nation's capital, I was appalled some foul-odour-generating metal-processing plants were built right next to disadvantaged neighborhoods with hazardous (air) pollution rampant but un-managed. Economic growth at the cost of human health and lives are not called growth. It is called murder and destruction.
94
How ironic that you're in CA. When I lived in CA (Berkeley) I lived in an economically disadvantaged neighborhood next to a foul-smelling and unregulated steel plant that exploited illegal labor. Disease, cancer, suffering and even death are occurring there regularly, but you'll never see it reported in the press because the immediate population is poor, has no voice and the elected officials who claim to represent them care more about getting reelected by local business.
Open system does not necessarily prevent corruption, or accidents like this. Korea is supposedly an open democratic nation, yet they suffered a similar disaster in the form of Sewol ferry. They too outsourced the safety inspection to a non-government agency comprised of shipping companies, and the corruption among the maritime ministry, the inspection agency and the ferry company resulted in the death of 400 people, including 300 school children. Conversely, Singapore, with its closed system under Lee, successfully rooted out corruption and never had an accident of such scale.
If Korean response to Sewol is any guide, the Chinese will scapegoat a few people and move on. And the history will repeat itself. It won't stop till they root out the government corruption, and the culture that values money above everything else including human life.
If Korean response to Sewol is any guide, the Chinese will scapegoat a few people and move on. And the history will repeat itself. It won't stop till they root out the government corruption, and the culture that values money above everything else including human life.
17
It was clear from the very beginning that bribery and corruption first of all are reasons of that huge blast in Tianjin - everybody likes money and nobody can reject it especially if the sum is great.
2
Every time the Republicans talk about De-regulation, they should just look at China. If you have power and money in China, there is no regulation. The Tianjin tragedy is example of what happens if there are no regulations.
15
Now the mayor of Tianjin is saying the chemical storage will be moved to Dagang Oil Field district, not far from the Port of Tianjin. The people there are not happy. They thing the government views them as expendables. There are a lot of schools, a hospital and many homes in the oil field. Chemicals like these should move farther out.
1
Humans continue to pollute our environment around the globe. With ~ 7.3 billion of us and growing, the earth no longer has the ability to cleanse itself quickly enough to counter the levels of pollution, abuse from humans.
When will people choose to live in sustainable economic and environmental models? We have the ability, the technology to live in an environmentally responsible manner yet we choose to pollute endangering our future. Economists have called pollution a "social cost" of production. This social cost is realized by some more than others.
The limits of what the earth can sustain are being tested. Each of us can do our part to live in sustainable ways to lessen the impact of our life choices on the environment.
When will people choose to live in sustainable economic and environmental models? We have the ability, the technology to live in an environmentally responsible manner yet we choose to pollute endangering our future. Economists have called pollution a "social cost" of production. This social cost is realized by some more than others.
The limits of what the earth can sustain are being tested. Each of us can do our part to live in sustainable ways to lessen the impact of our life choices on the environment.
4
America's Environmental Protection Agency, its National Park system and its citizens' general regard for the Earth have served America very well.
China demonstrates the complete stupidity of greed, uncontrolled economic growth, zero regulation and the love of money over clean air, clean water, clean earth and clean ethics.
Human greed has completely polluted every aspect of China.
China should hang its head in public shame for completely defiling its one and only environment.
Greedy and stupid is no way to go through life.
China demonstrates the complete stupidity of greed, uncontrolled economic growth, zero regulation and the love of money over clean air, clean water, clean earth and clean ethics.
Human greed has completely polluted every aspect of China.
China should hang its head in public shame for completely defiling its one and only environment.
Greedy and stupid is no way to go through life.
59
"China demonstrates the complete stupidity of greed, uncontrolled economic growth, zero regulation and the love of money over clean air, clean water, clean earth and clean ethics."
Sounds like the Chinese are actually hardcore Republicans, don't they?
Sounds like the Chinese are actually hardcore Republicans, don't they?
1
The sort of crony capitalism that is on display here is rampant in the U.S. as well: the Taconda well explosion, the unregulated spill that despoiled drinking water in the Virginia area; the big gas explosion in West, TX; the multiple large explosions involving oil-carrying trains; the big explosion in a coal mine owned by Massey Energy.
These are just the ones that make the national news. I am sure there hundreds of smaller incidents that never make the news and thousands of ticking time bombs sitting out there.
The complaints by corporations about "the cost of regulations" never amount to anything other than whining. Every time the "paper work" is reduced something really, really disastrous happens. Then, the cumulative costs of those "pesky regulations" show up in one big lawsuit, one big fine and human deaths.
What is it about executive thinking that always goes down this dark path? Why not simply do what you are suppose to do and avoid the bad press and the lawsuits? Are these people not capable of thinking of anything farther ahead than next week?
These are just the ones that make the national news. I am sure there hundreds of smaller incidents that never make the news and thousands of ticking time bombs sitting out there.
The complaints by corporations about "the cost of regulations" never amount to anything other than whining. Every time the "paper work" is reduced something really, really disastrous happens. Then, the cumulative costs of those "pesky regulations" show up in one big lawsuit, one big fine and human deaths.
What is it about executive thinking that always goes down this dark path? Why not simply do what you are suppose to do and avoid the bad press and the lawsuits? Are these people not capable of thinking of anything farther ahead than next week?
219
"What is it about executives and regulatory avoidance?"
They don't see people. They see balance sheets. They don't understand the cost of accidents because they don't have to clean up after them.
After the accident, the executives, and the the bankers that support them, sell off the assets and move on to the next disaster. Engineers are stuck cleaning up.
They don't see people. They see balance sheets. They don't understand the cost of accidents because they don't have to clean up after them.
After the accident, the executives, and the the bankers that support them, sell off the assets and move on to the next disaster. Engineers are stuck cleaning up.
15
Also the April 17th 2013 fertilizer explosion in West, Texas, that killed fifteen people and injured 160 more..
5
For Larry L,
It is the cost analysis that is done. How much for human life and property verses profit. That is not always the case, but to often that seems to be happening and with computers it is easier to do that sort of analysis than ever before. The same old mantra is follow the money.
It is the cost analysis that is done. How much for human life and property verses profit. That is not always the case, but to often that seems to be happening and with computers it is easier to do that sort of analysis than ever before. The same old mantra is follow the money.
3
What China so obviously needs is western style good governance.
But, good governance costs money, and that means higher prices for goods produced in China. Are we in the west willing to pay more?
No matter what the answer is, this kind of accidents should not happen anywhere. Toxic and dangerous chemicals don't mix well with urban areas.
But, good governance costs money, and that means higher prices for goods produced in China. Are we in the west willing to pay more?
No matter what the answer is, this kind of accidents should not happen anywhere. Toxic and dangerous chemicals don't mix well with urban areas.
29
Western style good governance? Seriously?
The republicans work tirelessly to eliminate any drop of regulation and governance on business wherever they possibly can, often by reducing the budgets of regulatory agencies so they can no longer regulate. Then when something truly awful happens and people die, they stand up on their hind legs and bray that the agency they defunded is not doing its job, and should be closed.
Shareholder value has trumped human life in this country since Lee Iacocca personally lobbied Nixon to veto the requirements for shoulder belts in cars, claiming the added cost to be too expensive for car manufacturers, even if it did save hundreds of lives a year.
So yeah, we're a LOT more like the Chinese than we're willing to admit.
The republicans work tirelessly to eliminate any drop of regulation and governance on business wherever they possibly can, often by reducing the budgets of regulatory agencies so they can no longer regulate. Then when something truly awful happens and people die, they stand up on their hind legs and bray that the agency they defunded is not doing its job, and should be closed.
Shareholder value has trumped human life in this country since Lee Iacocca personally lobbied Nixon to veto the requirements for shoulder belts in cars, claiming the added cost to be too expensive for car manufacturers, even if it did save hundreds of lives a year.
So yeah, we're a LOT more like the Chinese than we're willing to admit.
14
Tim, that's fine thinking but naive. Even in Europe, you have regulatory corruption. Did you know that the owner of the largest coal plant in Germany rakes in millions in Cap and trade? Here, in the US, the regulators write laws they can't enforce because corporations pressure their congressmen to de-fund investigation and enforcement. Corporations like Flint Hills Resources, Exxon-Mobil, DuPont, Dow Chemical, and others spent millions of dollars a year hiring consultants to help them skirt and thwart regulators. They often spend more to fight fines and permits than the modifications would take to fix emissions and safety problems: it's pure arrogance.
10
Don't congratulate yourself too soon about "western style good governance" when many a state suffer from the same kind of weak governance. Even as we speak, there are more than enough lobbyists and GOP cronies in Washington fighting all forms of regulations and enforcement, with the threat of funding cuts and lawsuits.
1
Absolutely no surprise. And please remember the NY Times story on how drugs manufactured in China (particularly warfarin/Coumadin) are even more grotesque. No one should be surprised at any of this since China does not believe in the Western concept of human rights.
14
Sounds like how things work in the USA, only bigger.
Two plutocracies. But we still have free speech, even if much of the news is for entertainment and owned by the plutocrats.
Two plutocracies. But we still have free speech, even if much of the news is for entertainment and owned by the plutocrats.
25
I hope Americans are paying attention to the devastating results of bypassing safety regulations for the sake of profit. In America, we have the GOP, which constantly rails against enforcing any of those pesky, profit-decreasing regulations in the first place.
69
The critics of Capitalism said,
"We will hand the Capitalists with the rope they sold" (Lenin), and
"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell" (Edward Abbey).
But the Chinese, the wise, old civilization of several millenia, has shown that they are incapable of learning from our mistakes, that after they hang we Capitalists with the rope we designed and had the Chinese manufacture for us, they will then hang themselves...because their ideology, like ours, is the ideology of a cancer cell.
"We will hand the Capitalists with the rope they sold" (Lenin), and
"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell" (Edward Abbey).
But the Chinese, the wise, old civilization of several millenia, has shown that they are incapable of learning from our mistakes, that after they hang we Capitalists with the rope we designed and had the Chinese manufacture for us, they will then hang themselves...because their ideology, like ours, is the ideology of a cancer cell.
12
The Chinese are lousy Communists…where is the profit sharing, where is the respect for the proletariat? Non existent….China is harshly ruled by an elite as it always has been, so let's stop referring to them as Communists because they are clearly not, they give Communism a bad name. The Chinese people are exploited by their greedy elite who care nothing about their real needs and suffering.
I sincerely hope that Americans have figured out that China is not some terrifying threat to the United States. China's growth is not sustainable without much better management, if at all.
3
China 2015 and America just before 1900 are similar. Our rivers, oceans and skies were made toxic by the industrial age and the robber barons. Teddy Roosevelt suggested that America must choose between monopoly, profit and nature and we modestly adjusted the playing field. Currently, China has one foot in the failed dogma of Communism and one foot in Oligarchic mayhem. No human nor government can serve two masters for long. Perhaps, China will "become" as America "became". Or perhaps the planet and it's most vulnerable people, places and things will continue to suffer from both lost empires in search of but one dollar more?
5
I wouldn't be so definitive that its only in a closed state that these things happen.
Note the terrifying accident at Union Carbide in India, a reasonably open state, that gassed several thousand to death and affected permanently over half million people.
And lets not forget the toxic plutonium waste in tanks in Hanford. We know its bad, and 50 years later, we don't have a solution, as the material can someday breach a tank and potentially leach into the pristine Columbia river.
Industrialization creates "after burner" problems, which are not taken into consideration during the process of "creation" of these products. Unfortunately its the way we do things, everywhere.
Note the terrifying accident at Union Carbide in India, a reasonably open state, that gassed several thousand to death and affected permanently over half million people.
And lets not forget the toxic plutonium waste in tanks in Hanford. We know its bad, and 50 years later, we don't have a solution, as the material can someday breach a tank and potentially leach into the pristine Columbia river.
Industrialization creates "after burner" problems, which are not taken into consideration during the process of "creation" of these products. Unfortunately its the way we do things, everywhere.
12
The only difference between this and the explosion in TX is the location and the scope. The cause is the same: people who don't believe regulation is worth it or necessary, resulting in poor oversight, chemicals packed together, combustion, death poor response from the same government that didn't require regulation and on and on. Anytime a Republican starts talking deregulation, this is the image that should come to mind. Unfortunately, when faced with doing the right thing vs doing the expedient thing, most people choose expediency if unimpeded.
42
To the Chinese I say welcome to the United States. Our corporations are allowed to blow up chemical plants and other things with impunity and while in your country mistakes like this sometimes results in prison or the death penalty here CEOs get raises and may even be in the Forbes 500 for their ability to wiggle out of liability to the humans they harm.
This kind of gross negligence has nothing to do with a closed political system unless of course the US also has a closed political system. We have a corporate owned political system and that is hazardous for humans.
This kind of gross negligence has nothing to do with a closed political system unless of course the US also has a closed political system. We have a corporate owned political system and that is hazardous for humans.
23
As someone with a long record of letters to the NYT about corruption in China and the shattering outcome this cancer will drive, I'd like to say to reader James Oneill, that the level of corruption in the US is tiny compared to China because we have two things they don't. 1 - an active and largely impartial judicial system. Redress can be had in our country. In China the 'judiciary' is an extension of the CP, not the people. 2 - a two party system and yes, neither of ours have clean hands and it's getting worse, but if Americans were to find the time and heart to truly protest nationwide, we could change that. China has had a single party in power for decades and that inevitably generates a level of complicity and self serving myopia that - as history shows - always leads to implosion. No one should mistake the CP's intransigence for strength. The government has only one goal; every decision it makes is to control civil unrest because if that genie ever gets out of the bottle, the party will fall with results that will be heard by us all.
23
And let's not forget Union Carbide's Bhopal disaster in 1984 which killed 3,500 people the first night alone and thousands afterwards, just in case we're feeling that we do things better. The only difference is that we do them on an even grander scale. Whistleblowers like Professor Shao continue to be voices crying out in a toxic, political wilderness in too many countries.
138
A very defensive response that can only point out a disaster in the then largely communist India over thirty years ago to claim that the US does not protect its citizens NOW better through better governance ,regulation , openness to academic criticism , multi layers of over sight etc from potential industrial accidents ! the Chinese government never does wrong crowd has to learn to allow criticism of their beloved institution without attempting to deflect it , or China will continue to suffer such explosions of sodium cyanide and the resulting fall out indefinitely
1
"We" did not "do" Bhopal. I've worked for an American subsidiary of a German chemical company siting a chemical plant in upstate NY and the same facilities, equipment and procedures are specified worldwide because executives and managers in the chemical industry universally are aware of safety risks and the need for scrupulous adherence to standards and safety training. No manager wants to see expensive capital blown up, and profits depend on maximum yield of output at required quality levels.
If by "we" you mean local Indian employees and managers of a company in a country that required its nationals controlled the subsidiary, I'd agree with you, but your implication that Bhopal is somehow inherent to well run chemical companies in first world countries (or at least the parts of those countries run like first world countries), I'd have to respond with Tonto's retort to the Lone Ranger when surrounded by the aprophical hostile Native Americans, "what do you mean, we?"
If by "we" you mean local Indian employees and managers of a company in a country that required its nationals controlled the subsidiary, I'd agree with you, but your implication that Bhopal is somehow inherent to well run chemical companies in first world countries (or at least the parts of those countries run like first world countries), I'd have to respond with Tonto's retort to the Lone Ranger when surrounded by the aprophical hostile Native Americans, "what do you mean, we?"
The Chinese seem to have realized in a few decades a level of profit-driven environmental destruction that took the United States centuries to achieve. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to criticize , even though we didn't necessarily know better at the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Let's hope the Chinese are as quick to grasp the need for meaningful change.
Yes crony capitalism, we are not that far behind but in the opposite direction. Here we use regulations to punish the innocent, rather than generally allow the guilty to continue to profit.
1
It goes to tell you that, irrespective of how many regulations are in place, if they are not followed and supervised, they are flouted upon, incompetence and corruption follow. Case in point. Hardly only a chinese problem.
7
As the Chinese expression goes - "The emperor is far away and the mountains are high." While the central government can make proclamations it seems the corruption amidst the myriad local authorities is a very difficult challenge to rein in.
As with the tainted baby formula scandal, I expect the central authority will once again have to resort to a few executions to demonstrate its will.
As with the tainted baby formula scandal, I expect the central authority will once again have to resort to a few executions to demonstrate its will.
5
The Libertarian philosophy, the free market will self regulate.
The GOP mantra that we are over regulated, ignores all those pesky regulations cam about because businesses brought it on themselves.
From the way food was processed, to the disposal of dangerous chemicals. We have a legacy of such things like the Love Canal, PCPs in the Hudson River, mine tailings like the recent release of toxic waters in Colorado. The list is endless. Most of these have not cost as many lives in one event as this Chinese one did, but over the course of years, our industrial accidents have cost as many lives. Coal mine explosions, and the Shirtwaist Triangle Fire are two examples where regulations failed.
Any time a regulation is proposed, the first objection is that it will cost money, and drive up the price of whatever is being regulated. The human cost like pulmonary disease, respiratory illness, cancer is minimized. Clean air and water are expenses for industry, remember the opposition of the tobacco industry. They did everything they could to discredit the medical findings of researchers.
So this situation in China is not much different from what we have faced over the years, it takes a big explosion to expose such.
The GOP mantra that we are over regulated, ignores all those pesky regulations cam about because businesses brought it on themselves.
From the way food was processed, to the disposal of dangerous chemicals. We have a legacy of such things like the Love Canal, PCPs in the Hudson River, mine tailings like the recent release of toxic waters in Colorado. The list is endless. Most of these have not cost as many lives in one event as this Chinese one did, but over the course of years, our industrial accidents have cost as many lives. Coal mine explosions, and the Shirtwaist Triangle Fire are two examples where regulations failed.
Any time a regulation is proposed, the first objection is that it will cost money, and drive up the price of whatever is being regulated. The human cost like pulmonary disease, respiratory illness, cancer is minimized. Clean air and water are expenses for industry, remember the opposition of the tobacco industry. They did everything they could to discredit the medical findings of researchers.
So this situation in China is not much different from what we have faced over the years, it takes a big explosion to expose such.
43
And the "experts" wonder why the Good People of China are getting out of the stock market? Talk about a paper dragon. This article alone should inform average Americans, and average people around the world, that today's "markets" are so corrupt one can smell the stench on the space station. Please, Good People, take away the toys of the top 1% global financial elite by moving YOUR money off the craps table and into safe U.S. treasuries and/or into IRA CDs at local credit unions and banks. And stay out of their real estate based casinos - they're taking cash out the back door in containers so they don't have to pay taxes. It is time to knock them down to size with SERIOUS REGULATION, TAXATION AND NATIONALIZATION OF ASSETS.
12
Slipped in between the horrific accounts of the volume and danger of the chemicals stored in Tianjin, are these quiet little facts. "Sodium cyanide is deadly in a dose of less than a tablespoon" and further on, "The sodium cyanide arrived at Rui Hai in wooden crates, hundreds every month, each marked “TOXIC” with an imprint of a skull and bones. The material was headed to mines around the world to extract gold from rock, but it was as deadly as the cyanide used in the Nazi gas chambers."
Only when things go as horrible wrong as they did here, do we really pay attention to exactly what drives our own economic engine. Up here in Canada we are opening the North to new and very exciting business opportunities, ones that our First Nations Peoples are told they should welcome for the economic benefit they will bring. "Gold Mining the New Eldorado." reads the headline.
"Deadly Sodium Cyanide Used for Mining Gold in Canada's North" was a headline I must have missed in all the excitement.
We are all turning a blind eye to the damage we are doing to the world. This happened in China for all the reasons cited in the article, but it happened with our collusion as well. We all benefit from China's phenomenal growth. Our own slap happy with oil province of Alberta is built on that growth.
This didn't just happen to China. It happened to us. The people of the world. Growth at any cost is not a viable economic model. When will we begin to accept that and begin to live accordingly?
Only when things go as horrible wrong as they did here, do we really pay attention to exactly what drives our own economic engine. Up here in Canada we are opening the North to new and very exciting business opportunities, ones that our First Nations Peoples are told they should welcome for the economic benefit they will bring. "Gold Mining the New Eldorado." reads the headline.
"Deadly Sodium Cyanide Used for Mining Gold in Canada's North" was a headline I must have missed in all the excitement.
We are all turning a blind eye to the damage we are doing to the world. This happened in China for all the reasons cited in the article, but it happened with our collusion as well. We all benefit from China's phenomenal growth. Our own slap happy with oil province of Alberta is built on that growth.
This didn't just happen to China. It happened to us. The people of the world. Growth at any cost is not a viable economic model. When will we begin to accept that and begin to live accordingly?
98
I think the relatively openness and aggressiveness demonstrated by various Chinese media investigating this tragedy and the government's recognition that an educated population coupled with some of the most modern social media systems in the world would expect no less is a step forward. We are always clamouring for the rest of the world to "develop". As we saw with our own industrial revolution up through the 70s when the Detroit River used to regularly catch on fire the impacts of that development can be immensely destructive absent proper environmental regulations and controls. China is managing the peaceful development and improvement of the standard of living of fully 20 % of the world's population in the world's 4th largest country it can't help but impact the rest of the world. China has now reached a state of development where environmental issues are repeatedly chosen as the most important. The hundreds of millions of emerging middle class Chinese who want a healthy environment for themselves and their children are making their voices heard and Chinese policies on environmental issues and regulations including enforcement are changing. For the sake of the planet you have to wish them well.
46
A party spokesperson, thank you!
4
It was not the Detroit River that caught on fire. Rather it was in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
No I am not but I do wonder why you think who says something is more significant than what they say.
1
Texas ought to take a look at Tianjin. Governor Perry and his administration brag often about suing the EPA and OSHA; they transferred authority over hazardous chemicals from OSHA to Homeland security ---- Homeland security know as much about these hazards as plumber knows about computer security. This legislation was approved in the wee hours, behind closed doors. The net result is that Perry has blood on his hands from the West Fertilizer accident, the Texas City accident and others. Fifteen were killed at West Fertilizer, fifteen more at Texas City; over 300 were injured in these two accidents.
Granted that regulation is a pain and it is costly, if you fight it tooth and nail, and burn engineering hours strategizing to avoid remediation. But, if you streamline following the rules regulation is not so bad. We don't have half the problems in Great Lakes as they have in Texas. In the words of Trevor Kletz, the great safety guru: "If you think safety is expensive, try an accident."
Granted that regulation is a pain and it is costly, if you fight it tooth and nail, and burn engineering hours strategizing to avoid remediation. But, if you streamline following the rules regulation is not so bad. We don't have half the problems in Great Lakes as they have in Texas. In the words of Trevor Kletz, the great safety guru: "If you think safety is expensive, try an accident."
38
And yes, we in the USA are superior in regards to China. Weather we make the "wrong" decision or not, it is at least by the will of the people
Bonjour de Paris; while deploring this catastrophe which mimics the one we had in Toulouse ten years ago, and still do not know why it exploded, why would a company dealing with the export of dangerous materials handle nitrates? It would take one phone call to sell them on the local market. The 500 tons of magnesium can be totally harmless. Again you sell 500 ton of magnesium with one phone call so why store it? As to the metallic sodium, how would they store it as it is nearly impossible to store it? Looking back at past decades, it is a wonder that in Sweden in the fifties the nitrates we were storing in the farms and at the sellers did not explode, they had not been identified as dangerous and nobody was especially careful in their storage. They could even be stored next to chlorinates ! Not dangerous!!!, some farmers had discovered that they could be used to explode disturbing stones and rocks in the middle of the fields. apparently we were not totally idiots.(Ambabelle)
2
Excellent reporting. But horrifying reading.
We don't just need inspections of nuclear activities in Iran. We need environmental inspections of every type across the world. Because this is happening in China does not reassure me that the potential for accidents of this type is not a global concern
We don't just need inspections of nuclear activities in Iran. We need environmental inspections of every type across the world. Because this is happening in China does not reassure me that the potential for accidents of this type is not a global concern
11
In other words, the situation in Tianjin is precisely the crony capitalist model Republicans hope to bring to a state near you in the next election. Legalized bribery, de-fanged environmental watch dogs. "Freedom from regulation."
This article -- as is common in the Times -- paints a disaster or crisis in China as a harbinger of existential threats to the "regime." Funny, how that is never the yardstick applied when similar disasters occur here. Hurricane Katrina, the BP blow out in the Gulf of Mexico, or the recent massive ammonium nitrate fertilizer explosion in Republican Texas (located near a school) as three examples.
This article -- as is common in the Times -- paints a disaster or crisis in China as a harbinger of existential threats to the "regime." Funny, how that is never the yardstick applied when similar disasters occur here. Hurricane Katrina, the BP blow out in the Gulf of Mexico, or the recent massive ammonium nitrate fertilizer explosion in Republican Texas (located near a school) as three examples.
124
The Dems invented 'pay for play'
1
A lesson to all who believe that businesses are capable of balancing revenue and the public interest. I wonder why anyone is surprised that 1 part greed, 1 part lax regulation and 1 part lack of transparency would not lead to this massive loss of life.
China welcome to your industrial revolution. I wonder how many will die before you achieve the balance required to keep your citizens safe.
China welcome to your industrial revolution. I wonder how many will die before you achieve the balance required to keep your citizens safe.
10
Life really is cheap when the world's population is pushing 9 billion.
2
After more than two weeks, I'm still waiting to learn exactly WHAT exploded so violently. But tons of magnesium in proximity to tons of nitrates sounds like a good prospect.
1
Graft and lack of oversight, the two things that should worry us FAR MORE than the crash of overinflated stocks markets in China.
But let's face it: every time we shop for 'cheap', which we're incorrigibly programmed to do, we aid and abet this. I hate to be cynical, but for all the moralizing, finger-washing bluster that will be displayed on these boards, we're all as much a part of the problem and the lack of solutions as the Chinese are.
But let's face it: every time we shop for 'cheap', which we're incorrigibly programmed to do, we aid and abet this. I hate to be cynical, but for all the moralizing, finger-washing bluster that will be displayed on these boards, we're all as much a part of the problem and the lack of solutions as the Chinese are.
9
Who is telling consumers to buy "cheap"? I think people look for real value…cheap goods are actually very wasteful and expensive in the end and not wort buying….look for real value, buy quality and support US, Canadian & European companies who pride themselves on great quality and do not use exploited sweatshop labor.
Anyone else remember Love Canal? Which government or local authorities informed residents of the toxic waste in their backyards and water supply? How about our lovely mining industries with thousands of tons of polluted water and tailings just sitting there. We have exported these industries to China - where do you think the sodium cyanide was going - because our industries found ti too expensive to make them safely. Ugly stuff happens when there is profit to be made this way.
11
The necessity of Xi's anti-corruption campaign should go even further. But the overall coverage and thorough investigation - the Chinese media actually give this a pretty good coverage - seem to support the notion that the government handled the disaster well. From how the Bush administration handled Katrina, it seems that response speed is more important than anything else.
2
If the Chinese had the professional lobbyists with the unlimited financial chest, like we have here in America, to curb the corrupting influence of the big business on the elected representative no explosion would have ever happened.
Are those journalists and reporters mocking us or what?
The time really flies by. I had no idea it’s the Fools Day again!
Are those journalists and reporters mocking us or what?
The time really flies by. I had no idea it’s the Fools Day again!
1
I suspect that the culprits will receive much harsher "justice" from the Chinese legal system than Americans in similar circumstances have or will ever face. They may prefer prison over a death sentence.
4
This is what happens under a regime of crony capitalism, where business success depends more on government contacts than a good product or service. We should be glad Solyndra dealt in solar panels and not toxic chemicals.
4
I know I could feel appalled or want to shame a government that would put people in such danger, but it really just breaks my heart. The Tianjin explosion was horrifying and I feel so badly for people who must be traumatized and are powerless.
4
Tragedy? Yes. Will it change anything in China? Lol. Not a chance.
No country in history has made so much progress in 30 years as has China. As if it was going to occur without crony capitalism, extreme corruption, totally degraded environment, total disregard for human rights, scant regard for safety, lopsided profits, and destruction of innocents.
I wonder whether we here are aware that predictions foreign, European, East European, Russian, Chinese media - and with some degree of regularity - predict America's social, political, and economic collapse; they suggest it is inevitable, and imminent. They look at Katrina, debt, Ferguson, the top 0.1%, the total marginalization of the underclass, the north-south and city-country divide, the sclerotic congress and other things and think we will collapse, that the country will be split up (a Russian huzza and dream), that . . . .
Never have I experienced a stronger America. Never have the Chinese experienced a stronger China. This is an insignificant pebble in the ocean, and will produce an insignificant ripple.
Kalidan
No country in history has made so much progress in 30 years as has China. As if it was going to occur without crony capitalism, extreme corruption, totally degraded environment, total disregard for human rights, scant regard for safety, lopsided profits, and destruction of innocents.
I wonder whether we here are aware that predictions foreign, European, East European, Russian, Chinese media - and with some degree of regularity - predict America's social, political, and economic collapse; they suggest it is inevitable, and imminent. They look at Katrina, debt, Ferguson, the top 0.1%, the total marginalization of the underclass, the north-south and city-country divide, the sclerotic congress and other things and think we will collapse, that the country will be split up (a Russian huzza and dream), that . . . .
Never have I experienced a stronger America. Never have the Chinese experienced a stronger China. This is an insignificant pebble in the ocean, and will produce an insignificant ripple.
Kalidan
2
I would interested in seeing the same type of graphic in regards to storage sites in the United States. The profit motive here is as great if not greater than in China and I don't trust the Corporate world at all. How about it NYT?
10
You don't trust the corporate world!?
You do know that NYT is a corporation, right? A for-profit one, at that.
You do know that NYT is a corporation, right? A for-profit one, at that.
1
I've been saying this forever: China is either going to implode or explode. Mark my words.
4
"a symbol of the high cost of rapid industrialization in a closed political system rife with corruption"
Reminds me of a tragic fire and explosion at an ammonium nitrate warehouse in West, TX, which killed 15 and injured 225, because of the proximity to a town and the absence of fire codes.
The state of Texas legally prohibits local governments from having their own codes or rules because they are unfriendly to business, while providing none at the state level.
Only 23.8% of adult Texans managed to vote in 2014, a legacy of a corrupt, gerrymandered districting system that reliably delivers an ideologically driven legislature and predictable results like West, TX and the highest health care uninsured rate in the country at 24.4%.
Reminds me of a tragic fire and explosion at an ammonium nitrate warehouse in West, TX, which killed 15 and injured 225, because of the proximity to a town and the absence of fire codes.
The state of Texas legally prohibits local governments from having their own codes or rules because they are unfriendly to business, while providing none at the state level.
Only 23.8% of adult Texans managed to vote in 2014, a legacy of a corrupt, gerrymandered districting system that reliably delivers an ideologically driven legislature and predictable results like West, TX and the highest health care uninsured rate in the country at 24.4%.
145
Capital will flee corruption, unreliability, instability, and an absence of transparency and accountability. Welcome to capitalism, CCP.
9
Sir,
Capital will create corruption, unreliability, instability, and an absence of transparency and accountability.
Don't you live in America?
We demand our police officers to carry a body camera but cannot force our elected officials to do the same. Why not? Theoretically, don't they work for us?
Why do the elected officials hide from their bosses what they are doing during their work hours?
If you want the correct answer to this enigma, read again the opening statement...
Capital will create corruption, unreliability, instability, and an absence of transparency and accountability.
Don't you live in America?
We demand our police officers to carry a body camera but cannot force our elected officials to do the same. Why not? Theoretically, don't they work for us?
Why do the elected officials hide from their bosses what they are doing during their work hours?
If you want the correct answer to this enigma, read again the opening statement...
3
Are you kidding? The very opposite is the case whenever possible, except for stability and reliability. That is why our government props up corrupt dictatorships around the world such as the Saudis, the former shaw of Iran, Bautista in Cuba, Pinochet in Chile, Chang Kai Chek in China -- the list is long and sordid; all to guarantee markets and profits to U.S. profiteers. What Capitalists DO flee is regulation and accountability. Read your history.
2
Oh no it won't. Capitalism loves the dark shadows of privatizing profits and socializing costs like wages, environment, safety, etc. don't kid yourself that 'the market' will take care of bad players.
5
Gee. How smug and superior we are - like this has never happened in the United States. We don't bribe directly; the lobbyists for special interests take care of messy proposed rules, etc
108
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
9
if you even bothered to read the article, it is not about a bribe, it is about the complete breakdown in safety. About Chinese professors, scientist, and people that truly care for society, that see and report the problems, but are completely ignored by the Chinese Government. Not so much because they do not care, but the greater goal is progress and profit. This conflicts with safety, and without a democratic system of checks and balances, there is massive greed, graft, bribes, both on a business and government level. Whatever the local official says, is the way it will be, with little or no "voter" recourse.
75
Dictatorship by one party makes reforms much more difficult to achieve. It is not smug or superior to acknowledge that fact.
4
Edward Abbey once said that "...growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell." That's what's happening in China and the metastasis is just beginning.
78