Zou Xi (邹曦) is a reporter at the Beijing Science & Technology Report (北京科技报), a publication of the Beijing Youth Daily Newspaper Group.
The reports that Zou Xi has written for the magazine, which is published three times a week, include one on the management of toxic waste, cued by the Washington Post article on the same topic.
Below, Danwei asks Zou, who answered in English, for her take on China’s pollution problems, carbon emissions, and the Copenhagen summit.
Danwei: What is your daily schedule like?
Zou Xi: I think my schedule can’t represent the majority of my colleagues at Beijing Science & Technology Report, as I’m a journalist and also a staff on the special program department, which is working on government projects such as research, special journals, etc. As a journalist, I submit topics to the chief editor and discuss topics with my colleagues on Monday morning meetings. For the rest of the week, I contact and interview experts, and write stories. Usually I use one week to cover a 2,000 character article, and a cover story two to four weeks. Right now, I’m working full-time on a research program on clean tech markets, which will last for two months.
Danwei: Are you able to pick the topics you want?
ZX: I find topics mostly from activities and presentations I attend, sometimes from daily journals. The chief editor said yes to more than half of the topics I have proposed. For the rejected ones, either they fail to fit into the range of our magazine: they are, say, too industrial while we are more science and technology, or it’s not the right time to cover the story. We are not supposed to write long stories on ideas without concrete action, so sometimes we have to wait for concrete major steps even when the idea sounds interesting.
Danwei: What do you think are the pressing problems for the environment and science in China?
ZX: I’m far from qualified to give an adequate and balanced comment on Chinese environment or science issues. But judging from talks with related government officials, academics, and environmentalists, I think if China is going to reduce pollution and better the overall environment, smarter and more detailed regulations should be put in together with strengthened implementation and supervision. Everybody has been talking about such problems, and we need people to walk the talk.
Danwei: Have you seen this report, and do you think they’re right?
ZX: I think such extreme incidents, journalists being imprisoned or killed, happen not only to environment reporters but anyone who threatens a certain interest group － there are interpreters being killed in some countries and regions too. I don’t know if it’s adequate to say this as a response to the question but we tend to write “balanced” articles at Beijing Science & Technology, which means we don’t paste a good or evil tag on a person or organization as we are not the judge.
We interview experts with various viewpoints about a certain topic, organize them in the same article and let the readers judge and decide. Although in such “balanced” articles, our stance is sometimes quite clear but no parties are badly hurt as we give everybody an equal chance to talk. This reporting style saves us from lots of quarreling though sometimes we do have to replace articles because certain interest group aren’t happy.
Danwei: The Copenhagen summit is coming up in November and there are issues with greenhouse gas emissions in China. What is your opinion on this?
ZX: President Hu Jintao’s recent speech on China’s decision to reduce carbon emission is a nice reply to this question. As a member of the international community, China can’t step aside on hot debates. Look at all the newly released renewable energy and clean technology regulations, all the speeches made by senior government officials, and you can tell that China is taking the climate change issue seriously and cautiously.
Danwei: Do you think the West has a right to ask China to reduce its carbon emissions? Should they address their problems first?
ZX: This is not a right-or-wrong issue. It’s only about negotiation. Everyone is trying to grasp opportunities in this green wave and make a compromise at the same time.