Pollution
Economy
China has too many incinerators. Southeast Asia has the trash
China built a vast waste-to-energy industry — then ran short of trash. As incinerators sit idle at home, Chinese firms are heading to Southeast Asia, pitching modern plants as a fix for looming landfill crises. Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Lim Zhan Ting reports.
Lim Zhan Ting
15 Jan 2026
Politics
When Chinese mining meets weak governance in Africa — who pays?
The Lubumbashi dam collapse exposes the human and environmental toll of Chinese mining in Africa. Weak oversight leaves communities and forests at risk — a warning spotlighted at COP30. Researcher Genevieve Donnellon-May unpacks the stakes.
Genevieve Donnellon-May
08 Dec 2025
Economy
Can China save Iraq from its water crisis?
Amid Iraq’s growing water crisis, while Chinese financing and technical expertise can offer short-term relief and help plug Iraq’s infrastructure gaps, such engagement also raises the spectre of new dependencies and opaque decision-making. US academic John Calabrese looks into the issue.
John Calabrese
26 Jun 2025
Society
China's richest man Zhong Shanshan sells pure spring water, but can Nongfu Spring stay clean and green?
Nongfu Spring, China's largest packaged drinks company, prides itself on its clean and green natural water source and low production costs. However, Chinese academic Zhang Tiankan stresses that despite its financial success, the company will need to do more for the environment if it wants to keep its future growth intact.
Zhang Tiankan
22 Nov 2022
Society
Marine science collaborations can help defuse tensions in the South China Sea
With environmental security shaping a new South China Sea conversation about ecological challenges, science cooperation represents a litmus test to link the impact of environmental change to both national and international security, and can offer a means to defuse tensions, says James Borton. His new book, Dispatches from the South China Sea: Navigating to Common Ground, will be released soon.
James W. Borton
01 Dec 2021
Society
When even blue skies are political in China
Chinese academic Ma Liang says it may be more worth it for the Chinese government to focus on long-term improvement of China's air quality, rather than spending money and effort on clearing its skies only when there are major events. The government seems to be hoisting in this rationale, judging by the naturally grey skies during the Two Sessions this year. Can blue skies every day be a reality for Beijing in the near future?
Ma Liang
16 Mar 2021
Society
Forest fires: Lancang-Mekong regional countries can work together to manage transboundary haze
With air quality in the Lancang-Mekong region entering the unhealthy range due to agricultural burning and causing air pollution in Chinese provinces, China academics Bi Shihong and Zhang Chengcen examine what countries in the Lancang-Mekong area can do to tackle transboundary haze.
Bi Shihong, Zhang Chengcen
08 Jun 2020