Chinese officials may demand more pollution cuts

Here's a link to a Barbara Demick story from Beijing about China's struggle to clean up the air in advance of the approaching Beijing Games. The bottom line from the report by Demick, a Los Angeles Times reporter:

Just 11 days before the opening of the Summer Olympics, the city's skyline was shrouded in haze Monday, leaving government officials scrambling for explanations that ranged from statistical anomalies to the 90-degree-plus heat.

The China Daily newspaper reports that the senior engineer who created the Olympics air clean-up plan for the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau has a fall-back plan: "We will implement an emergency plan 48 hours in advance if the air quality deteriorates during the Aug 8-24 Games."

-- Greg Johnson

Photo: Beijing's towering skyline was largely shrouded by smog 11 days before the opening of the Summer Olympics. Credit: Jean Chung / For The Times