What the Mainland Media Say | Nation counting the cost of Beijing's expensive Apec makeover
Once again, the government resorts to short-term solutions to sell an image that is far removed from day-to-day reality
Beijing has often made headlines because of its pollution or traffic congestion. The government's scrambling effort to prevent such an embarrassing scenario occurring when leaders of 21 economies gathered for the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum was the talk of the town last week.
For Chinese leaders, the meeting was the most important showcase for showcasing its the nation and its rising diplomatic prowess since Beijing hosted the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
Desperate that blue skies and traffic-free streets would greet world leaders, the government again did "everything humanly possible", as International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge described Beijing's effort six years ago, to clean up the city's notorious smog and alleviate traffic jams ahead of the summit. Its tough measures included factory shutdowns, traffic bans in the city and six neighbouring provinces, six-day forced vacations for civil servants and employees at state-owned enterprises.
Beijing also temporarily lifted the ban on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter besides allowing access to Google and Gmail just for foreign journalists covering the summit.
Although air pollution is obviously a long-time problem, the government seems to be capable only of short-term solutions in an effort to sell an image that is not the day-to-day reality. Indeed, Beijing witnessed rarely seen blue skies, dubbed "Apec blue", last week.
Even state-run media questioned what would happen to the air and traffic when the summit ended and the world leaders left.
While hailing the clean air in Beijing as evidence of the effectiveness of government action, the admitted that "Apec blue" skies would go after the summit and warned that fighting smog was a "marathon" battle that could not be won after one short race.
