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G. Xia
enterprise’s side because it generates taxes.” This fully proves that political stance
is not a remote concept, but a realistic issue. If we don’t elevate the environmental
issue to the political level, many officials won’t stand with the people when local
interests are involved, and if we deviate from the people on environmental protection,
an undertaking with such extensive and sustained impacts, how can we call ourselves
a country of the people? In the history of many developed countries, serious environmental events caused strong public protests and anti-pollution movements that
forced the congresses to pass strict environmental laws and standards. China, as a
socialist country, commits to people-centered development from the very beginning.
This is decided by our political system and where our political advantage lies; this
is also why the environmental undertaking is closely related with our purpose of
serving the people.
Second, we must expand the common interests of various parties during ecological
progress. The regulation of capital interests in the environmental field is special in that
capital brings multi-faceted interests. To be more specific, while capital causes negative effects like environmental damages in the process of pursuing profits and value
increase, it also generates positive effects such as employment, income increase and
tax contribution. On the one hand, we should prevent interest groups from working
together to harm public environmental interests; on the other hand, we should recognize and protect their legal pursuit for profits. Therefore, we should take a two-sided
approach toward capital—promoting the positive effects while eliminating the negative ones, instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The interest layout
during economic development must be restructured. Protecting the ecological environment is social interests, so is developing economy and improving livelihood.
Therefore, on the premise of adhering to the people’s stance, efforts must be made
to increase the synergy between developing economy and protecting the ecological
environment, which is another implication of “ecological environment is a major
political subject.” During the storm of strict central environmental protection inspection in recent years, some areas have adopted the universal approach of shutting down
all enterprises, which is anything but coordinating the two interests. To address this,
the Ministry of Ecology and Environment timely formulated the Working Opinions
on Prohibiting a Universal Approach to Environmental Protection to strictly ban
the universal shutdown of enterprises and avoid concentrated stoppage of work and
production. It also assigned a large group of officials to carry out deep investigations
on the grassroots level and ensure heating for the people last winter in response to
serious air pollution. All these actions are based on and driven by a correct political
stance.
For Party and government leaders at all levels, properly handling the various
interest demands and enlarging their synergy in ecological progress is a new task
never encountered before. So it’s no surprise that they sometimes seem not competent enough when performing this new duty. What’s important is to accumulate
new governing skills through study and practice on the premise of upholding the
people’s stance and serving their interests. As the environmental governance system
is modernized and officials become more politically mature, more Party and government leaders with new governing skills and political wisdom will come to the fore,
G. Xia
enterprise’s side because it generates taxes.” This fully proves that political stance
is not a remote concept, but a realistic issue. If we don’t elevate the environmental
issue to the political level, many officials won’t stand with the people when local
interests are involved, and if we deviate from the people on environmental protection,
an undertaking with such extensive and sustained impacts, how can we call ourselves
a country of the people? In the history of many developed countries, serious environmental events caused strong public protests and anti-pollution movements that
forced the congresses to pass strict environmental laws and standards. China, as a
socialist country, commits to people-centered development from the very beginning.
This is decided by our political system and where our political advantage lies; this
is also why the environmental undertaking is closely related with our purpose of
serving the people.
Second, we must expand the common interests of various parties during ecological
progress. The regulation of capital interests in the environmental field is special in that
capital brings multi-faceted interests. To be more specific, while capital causes negative effects like environmental damages in the process of pursuing profits and value
increase, it also generates positive effects such as employment, income increase and
tax contribution. On the one hand, we should prevent interest groups from working
together to harm public environmental interests; on the other hand, we should recognize and protect their legal pursuit for profits. Therefore, we should take a two-sided
approach toward capital—promoting the positive effects while eliminating the negative ones, instead of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The interest layout
during economic development must be restructured. Protecting the ecological environment is social interests, so is developing economy and improving livelihood.
Therefore, on the premise of adhering to the people’s stance, efforts must be made
to increase the synergy between developing economy and protecting the ecological
environment, which is another implication of “ecological environment is a major
political subject.” During the storm of strict central environmental protection inspection in recent years, some areas have adopted the universal approach of shutting down
all enterprises, which is anything but coordinating the two interests. To address this,
the Ministry of Ecology and Environment timely formulated the Working Opinions
on Prohibiting a Universal Approach to Environmental Protection to strictly ban
the universal shutdown of enterprises and avoid concentrated stoppage of work and
production. It also assigned a large group of officials to carry out deep investigations
on the grassroots level and ensure heating for the people last winter in response to
serious air pollution. All these actions are based on and driven by a correct political
stance.
For Party and government leaders at all levels, properly handling the various
interest demands and enlarging their synergy in ecological progress is a new task
never encountered before. So it’s no surprise that they sometimes seem not competent enough when performing this new duty. What’s important is to accumulate
new governing skills through study and practice on the premise of upholding the
people’s stance and serving their interests. As the environmental governance system
is modernized and officials become more politically mature, more Party and government leaders with new governing skills and political wisdom will come to the fore,