Government-sponsored experts in China have discredited a widely covered international study linking air pollution from coal burning in northern China to reduced life expectancy of local residents in an attempt to ease public concern.
Many state-run media outlets have published seemingly contradictory comments by so-called experts.
Many Chinese netizens were unconvinced by the arguments. “It [the propaganda] is self-contradictory. On one hand, it says that coal burning causes air pollution and hurts people’s health. On the other hand, it says there is no study proving this. Actually, this is common sense,” said one Weibo user.
Some critised the government’s attitude with one netizen saying, “How can the government deny the air pollution problem? Because of the government’s attitude, who dares to do related research?”