BEIJING, May 20 -- Dozens of high-level officials in Hebei are worried about their job security after the province failed a nationwide environment inspection.
The central environmental protection inspection group issued an unusually harsh report on malpractice in the province. During the inspection, 200 plants were shut down, 123 people were arrested and another 366 were held accountable.
This is the first time inspectors have been sent in the name of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, giving them unprecedented authority and power.
Inspectors spoke to and questioned at least 26 provincial-level officials, including Hebei's governor and party chief, a clear sign that the central leadership is taking a hard line on incompetence.
After Hebei, the group will dispatch inspectors to 15 more provinces and regions.
In the past, environment inspections were often ineffectual, and their resultant measures had little deterrent effect: As soon as inspectors leave, profit-driven polluters, after a silent nod from local politicians, return to their old ways and continue to contaminate the air, water and land.
The Hebei inspection, the first of a two-year nationwide inspection program, shows that the Chinese leadership means business when it speaks of preserving the "green mountain and clean water" and building a "beautiful China."
Since 2014, China has gone all-out to address environmental deterioration. The Environment Law, which came in force last year, allows authorities to impose unlimited fines on repeated polluters and file criminal charges.
There is significant political support for measures to improve the environment, but enforcement at the local level has long been a weak point, due to the opportunistic practice of "catch me if you can," and the shirking of responsibility.
As calls by the public to clean up the environment amplify -- the inspection team received about 100 phone calls every day from angry citizens reporting foul play -- China can not risk losing more ground in the war on pollution.
The inspection team takes a top-down approach to ensure efficient enforcement. In the coming months, these envoys may be feared and shunned by those the campaign aims to catch, but welcomed with open arms by the public.
