China's biased media coverage of Bali Summit

This year China overtook the United States as the world's biggest polluter but if you just read the newspapers in China you'd never know that. While the world has been leaning on the U.S. to sign on to the Kyoto Agreement to limit emissions the world has been largely silent about China's massive and rapidly growing pollution problem. The U.S. position has been that it won't agree to limits until China and India agree to do so. China's position is that it is a developing country and it is unfair to expect them to limit their economic growth during this stage in their development. India's position is that they'll agree to limitations if the developing world will pay for it. Europe's position is, predictably enough, to criticize the U.S. and turn a blind eye to China and India's contributions to global warming.

The media in China has gleefully covered Europe's criticisms of the U.S. while completely ignoring China's own refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol or reign in its own pollution. This story in the Shanghai Daily is a good example of the biased coverage that Chinese citizens receive.

My thought is that global warming is a serious threat and the world needs to agree to do something concrete - but that China and India need to pull their own weight in relationship to the amount of pollution they contribute. They don't get a pass.