(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-11 07:22

That three transnational companies were criticized on Wednesday by the State Environmental Protection Administration for violating environmental rules is a reminder that big international conglomerates need not only a pat on the back for their advanced management but also a warning to behave themselves in terms of environmental protection.

Some firms are found to be using double standards when it comes to pollution control and pollutant treatment in China.

It is sad that the total number of such firms that have been criticized for environmental pollution problems have increased from less than 100 a year ago to the present 300.

Spokesman Tao Detian from the administration said some of the transnational companies that enjoy good reputations for environmental protection in the world were found not to honor their reputations by violating indigenous environmental rules.

As China is increasingly integrated into the world economy, we need not only investment, advanced management and technology from transnational firms, but also their corporate culture, which represents a higher level moral code. We expect that they, rather than being only profit-seeking firms, would set good examples for their Chinese counterparts in shouldering due social responsibility.

But to our disappointment, some firms even claim that they come to China simply because they do not have to spend as much on pollutant treatment as they do in their own country.

If so, these firms should be clear that they have come to the wrong country, which is tightening control on pollutant discharge and setting higher demands on pollutant treatment. This country has already written in its national development plan the target to increase energy efficiency and reduce pollutant discharge.

Of course, the lack of supervision by local governments and their profit-oriented policies in seeking investments have encouraged some transnational firms to slacken their control on pollutant treatment.

In addition, the lack of concern for environmental protection on the part of the general public in China has also made these firms take it for granted that they should only care to make as much profit as they can without considering what impact their production has on the environment.

(China Daily 01/11/2008 page8)