Regulating the Belching Dragon: Rule of Law, Politics of Enforcement, and Pollution Prevention in Post-Mao Industrial China

摘要

Over the last three decades, China has developed a comprehensive regulatory framework aided by a set of formal environmental laws, which should enable efficacious management of the various pollution issues. However, these laws are often too broad and do not devote sufficient attention to details and specific issues, which are normally specified through regulatory edicts and ad-hoc environmental guidelines issued by sub-national entities. As a consequence, this has produced uncertainty and introduced regional variation in the interpretation and implementation of national environmental laws. This article charts the evolution of the norm of environmental protection within China. In addition, it argues that though the different post-Mao Chinese governments have made significant strides in enacting domestic environmental laws, signing multilateral treaties, and entering into bilateral cooperative arrangements, China now must focus its attention on implementing and enforcing the international agreements and its domestic laws by strengthening and reorganizing the regulatory institutions. Importantly, this article suggests that China should move away from the policy of pollute first, and treat later.