china

Walking into the "sports dome" at Dulwich College Beijing, an elite fee-paying international school in the capital's Shunyi District, one's ears pop and the oppression of the city's air begins to lift.

The school has built the dome - a large airtight, inflatable structure that covers the size of about four badminton courts - to provide an area for indoor sports during the freezing winter months.

When I wake up in the morning, I pause briefly before opening my curtains, and what I see out of my window is likely to set the tone for the rest of the day.

I am not checking up on the weather. Instead, I want to know exactly how bad the pollution is going to be. On some mornings, it is truly appalling. It is as if the whole city has been turned into a smokers' lounge with a yellowish, nicotine colour staining the sky.

And this month, pollution in Beijing went from bad to... well, dangerous.

Schoolchildren were ordered to halt outdoor sports activities until Tuesday this week, as a dirty cloud of smog continued to shroud China's capital.

This was among a series of emergency response measures adopted in Beijing Sunday when the city's Air Quality Index exceeded 500 micrograms, the highest level. Anything above this is regarded as "beyond index."

Reports of respiratory problems -- as well as the sale of masks -- have skyrocketed, according to state media, and over the weekend, streets appeared emptier, as a sun was barely visible amid a hazy blanket.

It was unreasonable for the Environmental Protection Department director to approve an impact-assessment report made by his own department on the proposed building of a massive offshore waste incinerator, a court heard yesterday.

Barrister Hector Pun Hei made the criticism on behalf of a Cheung Chau resident, who brought a judicial review against the HK$23 billion project on Shek Kwu Chau, an island south of Lantau.

People living near the planned Beijing-Shenyang High Speed Rail Line are still saying no to the project following the release of a third environmental impact assessment Monday that declares the passing trains will not pose a health hazard nor disturb residents, some of whom live just meters from the track.

More than 50 resident representatives from 10 neighborhoods along the planned track held a meeting Tuesday evening in Beijing. They believe the noise and electromagnetic radiation from the high speed trains could be detrimental to their health, according to the Beijing Times.

The High Court on Wednesday began a three-day hearing of a judicial review, challenging the government's plan to build a HK$1.5 billion waste incinerator on Shek Kwu Chau island, south of Lantau.

The case was filed by Leung Hon-wai, a resident on the island, despite the fact that the previous administration had put the proposal on hold after failing to obtain the necessary funding from the Legislative Council's Panel on Environmental Affairs in April.

Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian said the government would increase transparency and public involvement when considering major projects with a potential environmental impact, China Daily and Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily report.

Mr Zhou promised the rising number of mass protests caused by controversial projects would be reduced as risk assessment was enhanced, the reports said.

Laos has inked an agreement to build a railway connecting Thailand and Vietnam, just after sealing plans for a rail link to China, in ventures that will cost a combined whopping U.S. $12 billion.

By linking the landlocked nation to its giant neighbor China and mainland Southeast Asia, officials say the high-speed rail network will help open up the impoverished and resource-starved nation to development.

Protests resumed Sunday in an eastern Chinese city where thousands of residents had clashed with police a day earlier while demonstrating against the proposed expansion of a petrochemical factory over pollution fears.

Mandalay-based environmental group Seinyaungso has called on the government to halt an oil and gas pipeline project in the interests of the country.

The pipelines, which will run from Kyaukpyu in Rakhine State to Yunnan Province in China, are joint projects between China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). However, Seinyaungso said ownership and management of the piplines was out of Myanmar’s control. Companies from South Korea and India are also investors in the natural gas pipeline.