Ma Jun
Ma Jun
Ma Jun, courtesy name Deheng, was a Chinese mechanical engineer and government official during the Three Kingdoms era of China. His most notable invention was that of the south-pointing chariot, a directional compass vehicle which actually had no magnetic function, but was operated by use of differential gears. It is because of this revolutionary devicethat Ma Jun is known as one of the most brilliant mechanical engineers and inventors of his day. The device was re-invented by many after Ma...
NationalityChinese
ProfessionEnvironmentalist
Date of Birth22 May 1968
CountryChina
I tell them the rules are made by the government. Every firm should comply. It doesn't mean they can't compete.
GDP has been understated for the last three to four years.
Everyone else has some interest in economic growth and development, which often happens at the expense of the environment and community. We need the other side to join this to check and balance.
Multinationals are more sensitive to public pressure because they have bigger brand names, and they have made commitments to be environmentally sensitive. Chinese firms are not used to this kind of pressure yet.
With its imagination and large sales, Apple has become the world's most valuable IT company. However people are starting to have doubts regarding Apple's silence on heavy metal pollution problems.
We haven't seen the turning point yet, but we're sticking to our bottom line, for the environment and the health of the country.
We can't go to courts in China, so we have to find alternate ways, like working with brands to try and create a level playing field by identifying the most obvious polluters.
We want to use the environment to shift the way our society works.
We must strictly enforce the Environmental Law, closing down the polluters that fail to meet the standards.
Urban residents, most of them middle class, have a much better sense of their environmental rights, and they're willing to take to the streets.
What we aim to do, through public pressure, is help the environment protection bureau to enforce the law.
While cheap products are exported to western countries, the waste is dumped mostly in China's back yard, contaminating its air, water, soil and seas.
We copied laws and regulations from western countries, but enforcement remains weak, and environmental litigation is still quite near impossible.
To deal with local pollution, China has put on the agenda the capping of coal, which has long been a sensitive issue.