Really?

Monthly - almost - there are articles in the South China Morning Post relating the problems of pollution. Often, I read about anti-pollution drives, but there are definitely road blocks. Nonetheless, it seems many people in HK don't take pollution lightly.

Pollution is definitely something we have to deal with in HK, but Shanghai and Bejing rarely see the blue sky, and I heard Shanghai schools were closed yesterday due to the API (air pollution index).

But this week, an article in a nationalist newspaper in mainland China actually suggested that pollution had its benefits! Communism at its finest.

Forrest and I decided we needed to post this:

In America, we're used to our government, our industry and our media putting a spin on events to make the world seem a brighter, better place than it really is. But China is showing some impressive spin talent of its own, with a rationalization for pollution that is, quite literally, breathtaking.

Much of China has been suffering through choking smog in recent weeks, which has hampered daily activities and forced the closure of schools. In response, the government published a list of reasons documenting the benefits of smog. Yes, benefits.

A Time magazine translator indicated that Global Times offered up the following rationalizations for smog:

1. It unifies the Chinese people.
2. It makes China more equal.
3. It raises citizen awareness of the cost of China’s economic development.
4. It makes people funnier.
5. It makes people more knowledgeable (of things like meteorology and the English word haze).

That's some interesting rationalization. Following that line of thinking, hurricanes also unify people by forcing them to leave their isolated homes and gather in collectives. Tornadoes give people a sense of the power of nature. Wildfires place everyone on an equal footing by burning everyone's possessions to the ground. See? The problem isn't nature, the problem is you.

Oh, but the disinformation campaign wasn't done. The Global Times, a newspaper connected to the Communist Party's preferred publication the People's Daily, noted that smog has a defensive benefit. “Smog may affect people’s health and daily lives," the newspaper wrote, "but on the battlefield, it can serve as a defensive advantage in military operations." The article pointed to military operations in Kosovo and Saudi Arabia that used smoke as a means of obscuring the enemy's sight lines and fouling electronic equipment. This takes "we had to burn the village to save it" to a completely new level.

Assuming these comments are real — and the Chinese government historically has little patience for satire — it's a stunning attempt to deceive a populace about the true seriousness of a man-made environmental threat.

In future weeks, expect the Chinese government to endorse smoking (toughens your lungs!), junk food (purchasing larger items of clothing helps the textile industry!) and reality television (gives you a healthy distrust of your closest friends and family!).

Contact Jay Busbee at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @jaybusbee.