Border Crossed by Ashes and Wind - Beijing, DSS and Acid Rain Support Landscape (2007)

Border Crossed by Ashes and Wind - Beijing, DSS and Acid Rain Support Landscape (2007)

In the mid-2000s, China was undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization, and air pollution and yellow sand were transforming into an international problem with national and international implications. In Beijing and other urban clusters, flue gases and sooty dust dissolved into the rain, causing acid rain that eroded buildings and vegetation. Yellow dust covered the yellow-brown sky in early spring and became a nuisance wind that induced respiratory diseases. This deterioration of the atmospheric environment was perceived as a problem for East Asia as a whole, as it also caused damage in Japan's Tohoku and Hokkaido regions, or on the Korean Peninsula.

Against the backdrop of these issues, the Japanese government decided to provide grant aid of approximately 793 million yen in 2007. Centered in Beijing, the project expanded the acid rain and DSS observation system, installed monitoring equipment, and provided research support for forecasting models. The East Asian Network for Acid Rain Monitoring (EANET), which began in 1998, has been led by Japan in providing technical assistance and information sharing, and this financial assistance strengthened the foundation of trust between the two countries.

With regard to DSS, the Asian DSS Control Project had been underway since 2003 with ADB/GEF support, and observation bases and forecasting technology were being developed in China and Mongolia. Japan has been promoting transparency of the atmospheric environment in the region and strengthening the policy base by providing its own technologies and funds.

This support measure is more than just environmental assistance. It was an expression of "environmental diplomacy" to manage the air, moisture, and wind traffic of neighboring countries together, and to build a regional community based on scientific trust. A view of the efforts to close the distance between the ashes and the wind, and to work together toward the future.