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BEIJING – China told foreign embassies Tuesday to stop publishing their ownreports on air quality in the country, escalating its objections toa popular U.S. Embassy Twitter feed that tracks pollution in smoggyBeijing. Only the Chinese government is authorized to monitor and publishair quality information and data from other sources may not bestandardized or rigorous, Wu Xiaoqing, a vice environmentalminister, told reporters. China has long taken issue with the U.S. Embassy's postings ofhourly readings of Beijing's air quality on a Twitter feed withmore than 19,000 followers since 2008. But its past objections wereraised quietly. U.S. consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou also postreadings of the cities' air quality on Twitter. The Twitter feeds were operating normally Tuesday, and an embassyspokesman in Beijing said the air quality reports were meant toinform Americans living in the three Chinese cities. In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S.had no plans to stop providing the service. "You know, air pollution, quite frankly, is a problem in manycities and regions in China," he told a news briefing. The air quality readings in Beijing are based on a singlemonitoring station within embassy grounds, and pollution levels arerated according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standardthat is more stringent than the one used by the Chinese government. For instance, the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday reported 47 micrograms offine particulate matter -- particulate matter less than 2.5micrometers in size, or about 1/30th the width of an average humanhair -- in the air and said the level was "unhealthy for sensitivegroups." Readings from Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau's 27monitoring stations ranged between 51 to 79 micrograms butcategorized all those levels as "good." The Beijing government only began reporting PM2.5 earlier this yearafter long-standing public and international criticism of its lackof transparency about its air quality. The government appears frustrated that there are now duelingreadings for air quality and that the U.S. readings underscore thefact that pollution levels considered unhealthy in the U.S. areclassified as good by China. Wu said it isn't fair to judge Chinese air by American standardsbecause China is a developing country and noted that U.S.environmental guidelines have become more stringent over time. The standard China uses "takes into account the level of ourcurrent stage of development," Wu said. Wu also said that air quality monitoring by foreign diplomats wasinconsistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations andurged diplomats to abide by China's laws and regulations. It is unclear if other nations monitor and publicize their readingsof air quality in Chinese cities, but local Chinese have used theU.S. readings to prod their government into publishing moredetailed pollution data. Later, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin echoed Wu'sremarks, saying at a regular press briefing that China objected tothe publicity rather than the gathering of the environmental data. "Of course, if the foreign embassies want to collect air qualityinformation for their own staff or diplomats, I think that is theirown matter, but we believe that this type of information should notreleased to the public," Liu said. The top environmental official in Shanghai over the weekend alsospoke out on the issue, telling local media that an air qualityfeed launched last month by the U.S. consulate in Shanghai wasillegal. The U.S. Embassy said the air quality monitor in Shanghai measuresthe air quality in the area around the consulate's office. "Themonitor is an unofficial resource for the health of the consulatecommunity," said Richard Buangan, embassy spokesman in Beijing. China requires concentrations of PM2.5 to be kept below dailyaverages of 75 micrograms per cubic meter -- more than twice aslenient as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's standard of35 micrograms. PM2.5 are believed to be a health risk because they can lodgedeeply in the lungs, and have been linked to increasedcardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Jewelry Components and Findings , Bronze Necklace Chain for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Metal Choker Necklace.
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