Pollution: Until it hurts business, it won't clear up

Images of China's pollution graced the front pages of international newspapers this past weekend, but will all the attention force change? Probably not.
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Since air quality goals were enacted 25 years ago, Hong Kong has not once met them
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<div style="text-align: left;"> Since air quality goals were enacted 25 years ago, Hong Kong has not once met them </div>

Much ado was made of Beijing’s toxic pollution this past weekend with photos of smog splashed across international newspaper fronts and broadcast journalists spewing that the end of the world was almost upon us.

The damning news behind the uproar was that, on January 12, harmful particulates in the air in China’s capital city were 36 times higher than the safe level recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Other big cities in China, including Hong Kong, have also been faring poorly. On Sunday morning, the ICC Tower in West Kowloon was only vaguely visible from across the harbour and, by lunchtime, Hong Kong Island was a hazy...

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