Feb 25, 2014

Taiwan: Possible Cooperation With China On Pollution


Taiwan continues to suffer from air pollution blowing from China. Aiming at cooperation on the issue, Taiwan’s experts will participate in a conference on air pollution control in China in April. 

Below is an article from Focus Taiwan:

Taiwan's environmental protection authorities said Monday [24-02-2014] that they will send experts to China in April to attend a conference on air pollution control and possible cooperation between the two sides in this area.


The impact on Taiwan's air quality from pollution blowing across the Taiwan Strait from mainland China has been becoming more and more severe, said Hsieh Yein-rui, head of the Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control under the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).

Taiwan and China discussed issues regarding mutual cooperation and technical exchanges in the field of environmental protection during talks on a cross-Taiwan Strait trade-in-services agreement last year, Hsieh said.

During that discussion, the two sides agreed to conduct exchanges between their respective environmental protection authorities. However, they have not yet signed any agreements on the issue, Hsieh said.

"So far, the two sides have only engaged in discussions on technical issues and have been taking turns holding conferences. They have not yet reached the phase of planning a new type of interaction," he said.

During these conferences, Taiwan is limited to only offering the mainland its know-how and strategies in the control of pollution sources, Hsieh went on.

According to EPA data, pollution from China has affected Taiwan seven times since last November [2013]. Every time a cold air mass from the mainland approaches, the air quality in western Taiwan deteriorates, an EPA official was cited in a local newspaper report as saying.