Beijing gets an overhaul for birthday

Business Asia, Sept 13, 1999

Beijing, one of the dirtiest cities in the world, is getting a facelift and trying to clear up its skies ahead of national day celebrations on October 1.

The Beijing Public Security and Traffic Administration has ordered 25 polluters, including giant steelmaker Shougang, to cut production and stop using equipment that burns fuel or coal from September 21 to October 1, according to the China Daily.

The administration has also barred vehicles that emit excessive exhaust from entering the Chinese capital in a bid to clear up the skies in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, the newspaper said.

The Beijing Morning Post said the city would shut down its mobile phone and pager systems for an unspecified number of hours on October 1 to ensure there is no interference with radio communications between jets expected to scream over Tiananmen Square during a military parade.

Millions of cellular phone and pager users are expected to be affected.

According to a 1998 World Health Organisation report, Beijing ranks third among the world's 10 most polluted cities, seven of which are in China.

However, authorities appear determined to keep the skies clear on October 1.

Burning of fallen leaves and garbage would be prohibited, newspapers said.

Vehicles would have to pass emission tests and trucks carrying dangerous articles would be forbidden from entering the city.

Audiences had difficulty seeing fighter jets during past military reviews due to low visibility caused by heavy pollution.

The climax of China's birthday bash will be a chest-thumping military parade invoking about 500,000 people, hundreds of tanks and missiles.

The authorities have launched a nationwide crackdown on fugitives, rounding up more than 68,000 people between July 1 and August 20, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Beijing has been given a facelift. Tiananmen Square, the centre of student-led, prodemocracy demonstrations crushed by the army in 1989, has been renovated.

Neon signs and advertisements along main avenues have been torn down.