From the invisible to the visible: She sees hope amid the smog

Episode 1

Fu Lu, the China director of Clean Air Asia, an international NGO that works for better air quality and healthier, more livable cities in Asia. [File photo provided for China Plus]

Episode 2

The cost of China's fast-paced development couldn't be ignored any longer when at the end of 2012 the north of the country was smothered by the heaviest air pollution in its modern history. Cities became monochrome silhouettes, as high-rise buildings were shrouded in smog. Fear, anxiety, desperation, and anger spread. Terms like "PM10" and "PM2.5" entered people's daily lexicon. Workplaces gave employees protective masks, which were said to be in short supply. And rumors were rife that diplomats and investors were leaving.

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It was the first time that many people faced the realization that the air we breathe couldn't be taken for granted, and that we could well choke on the environmental cost of our pursuit of a happy and affluent life.

More than six years have passed and, despite the growing number of blue sky days, memories of that grim period are still fresh in my mind. They're memories reinforced again and again by the sporadic smog alerts I wake up to on my phone. It was with this in mind that I looked forward to asking how Fu Lu, the China director of Clean Air Asia, felt about that time.

Fu Lu, the China director of Clean Air Asia, takes an interview from China Plus on May 7, 2019. [Photo: China Plus]

I didn't expect her to say that the time known as the "airpocalypse" made her happy. Fu Lu had no time to lament: She saw a silver lining in the gloom, as the time for procrastination in the fight against air pollution would soon come to an end. People could see how bad it had become, and would be ready to charge into action. This was a great opportunity for Clean Air Asia, which had been operating in China for a decade doing research and training, and awaiting a big call to action. Fu Lu left her office in downtown Beijing and went out into the street. Surrounded by the shadows of the city's flagship commercial buildings enveloped in smog, Fu Lu knew it was time for her and her colleagues to become high-profile champions in the fight for clean air. Fu Lu said the first thing they did was taking interview from international media to tell the world what was happening in China.

It didn't take long before China's government released its first national action plan to deal with air pollution. The country thereafter embarked on a journey to take stringent measures to combat air pollution. Fu Lu is proud that Clean Air Asia has the capacity to help the Chinese government in this task. For a long time, her institution organized seminars and training to promote awareness and introduce international experience. Some officials sat through these technical workshops because they knew deep down that one day they'd be tasked with finding solutions to China's environmental problems. And when that day arrived, they came to Clean Air Asia asking for help, which remains a leader when it comes to helping China to draft policies and mobilize talent, money, and resources to combat air pollution.

Fu Lu, the China director of Clean Air Asia, poses for a photo with China Plus host Manling on May 7, 2019. [Photo: China Plus]

Fu Lu oversaw the enforcement of China's first clean air action plan for the period from 2013 to 2017. During those years, she saw China shut down factories, control vehicle emissions, cover construction sites, and switch to clean energy for transportation and heating. As a result, air pollution was reduced by 40 percent. First the world was impressed by China's rapid development, and now it would marvel at the speed of its environmental rectification. In its report entitled "Breakthroughs", Clean Air Asia China highlighted key factors behind China's success. According to Fu Lu, without strong political will at the central level, there wouldn't be effective implementation of the national action plan at the local level.

Success also relied on a bottom-up approach whereby cities were ranked according to their performance in addressing pollution problems. Publishing the rankings put pressure on local governments to perform, as nobody wants to buy a house and raise kids in a smoggy city. The rationale was that for many people, losing face is still an unbearable humiliation. This is why student rankings in schools are rampant despite repeated calls from the government for the practice to be banned: The shame of performing poorly inspires students to work hard. Poor scores affect a city's reputation, which in turn makes it less attractive as a home for investment and talent. The same principle was applied to leading officials, such as mayors, whose performance appraisal – and future prospects for promotion – included an assessment of their successes in environmental protection.

Fu Lu, the China director of Clean Air Asia, an international NGO that works for better air quality and healthier, more livable cities in Asia. [File photo provided for China Plus]

Fu Lu says this appraisal system has worked well. In my eyes, this innovation in governance makes sense: China's collective decision making is one of its strengths, but its success requires individuals to be held accountable for their contribution towards the shared goals. This approach has also been applied to efforts to clean up polluted rivers and lakes. A high school classmate of mine is a local township official who became a hezhang (河长), a River Chief, patrolling her section of the river every day, which she cares for as a mother cares for her baby.

If every individual took care of their environment like it was a part of their family, people like Fu Lu would be out of work. Is this too idealistic and utopian? Perhaps, but that doesn't mean China's government shouldn't try to motivate people to take personal responsibility. There's a classic Chinese fable called "Three Monks Have No Water to Drink", which has been made into plays and puppet shows, and more recently, multi-media adaptations such as cartoon books and animated films. The story goes like this: When there was only one monk in the monastery, he had to fetch water for himself. When the second monk arrived, they shared the task of fetching water. But when a third monk arrived, they were so busy arguing about whose job it was to get water that at the end of the day they had nothing to drink. Blue skies, and clear rivers and lakes became a task for all levels of government and the responsibility of individual officials and community leaders – everyone had to do their share of the work.

Innovative governance informed by old wisdom was just the first step. China is now well into its second national action plan to fight air pollution, and under Fu Lu's leadership, Clean Air Asia China is working hard to help China with the deep structural reforms needed to address the root causes of environmental pollution. Priority should be shifted to reforming the country's energy, industrial, transportation, and land use policies. But while, for many people, the chase for economic growth outweighs the appeal of environmental protection, Fu Lu's job will remain an uphill climb. Why chose to study law, work at an NGO, and take on the mammoth and, for the most part, thankless task of protecting the environment? How did this become her purpose and passion in life?

In 1997, Fu Lu was enrolled in the Law School at Wuhan University in central China, where she graduated with a PhD degree in environmental law. She was drawn to Professor Wang Xi, who taught international environmental law, from the time of his first lecture, and years later, she would study under him for both master and PhD degrees. In those days, law was one of the least sought after majors in China. Under the planned economy, the country was run by administrative fiat. But with economic reform came the need of law. A legal system was built from scratch to accommodate the development of a market economy. But there was good money to be made from commerce, finance, banking, accounting, and business management. Those were competitive majors, because they promised a high income and a comfortable life. So, why didn't Fu Lu choose money? I assumed her pursuit of law was the result of idealism on the part of her parents.

But I was wrong. It was Fu Lu herself who made the decision. She said that since she was little, her parents had let her make her own decisions. And when she told them she wanted to study law, they respected her choice. What a contrast to many Chinese parents, who still insist on making decisions for their adult children, not for a moment realizing they are depriving their children of the lessons that come from taking responsibility, making decisions, and learning from the consequences. In this regard, Fu Lu is a lucky child. Her parents gave her the liberty to grow into the person she wanted to be, and because of this she has turned into a confident, independent, and responsible woman capable of chasing her own dreams.

Alongside Professor Wang Xi, credit should go to Fu Lu's grandma. She loved watching TV programs imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan, a product of China’s opening up. Fu Lu, the little couch potato beside her grandma, was mesmerized by courtroom dramas with their debates on justice and fairness and the importance of protecting the weak and disadvantaged.

While most of her classmates chose to specialize in commercial, criminal, or civil law, Fu Lu chose environmental law, despite its relatively low financial reward. She said money has never been her first priority. Her parents weren't rich; but they weren't poor either, and she was never left wanting. "My parents have given me everything I wanted," Fu Lu said with a smile.

Fu Lu, the China director of Clean Air Asia, an international NGO that works for better air quality and healthier, more livable cities in Asia. [File photo provided for China Plus]

Love and independent thinking are the two most important gifts her parents gave her after food and shelter. Independent thinking leads to independent decision making. And independent decision-making requires a person to take responsibility for their actions. People like Fu Lu could never understand those so-called exquisite egoists (精致的利己主义者), people who care only about their own life and who show little or no interest in public affairs. Fu Lu offered a friend of hers as an example: Despite concerns about the pall of smog hanging over Beijing, she decided to buy a second car so she could drive every day. You see, to reduce pollution, the Beijing municipal government decided that during times of heavy pollution, only cars with license plates starting with an odd number are allowed on the road one day, and even number plates the next.

People like Fu Lu's friend are everywhere to be found in China. They're the people who drop trash on the street while keeping the inside of their house squeaky clean. They're the people who complain about the traffic but who wouldn't dare to take the subway. They're the students who buy pets to kill loneliness on campus and abandon them after graduation.

What is the rationality behind these exquisite egoists? And why is Fu Lu different?

Perhaps a modern female writer can provide us an answer. In her novel "Distant Savior" (遥远的救世主), Dou Dou wrote about this phenomenon. She told the story of how a police woman who grew up in China and Germany, received a law degree tried to help poor villagers in China to help themselves to get rich by going into the market to face the cruelty of competition instead of waiting for government poverty relief programs to save them. "For a completely independent woman with integrity," Dou Dou wrote, "her present and her self-imagined future have become her utter and sheer support in life, leaving no room at all for subordination and dependence on others." (一个完全人格独立的女人，她的现在以及她所设想的将来完全是她自己的生存支点，丝毫没有给“从属”与“依赖”留有空间。——豆豆) This description fits Fu Lu well.

Fu Lu, the China director of Clean Air Asia, an international NGO that works for better air quality and healthier, more livable cities in Asia. [File photo provided for China Plus]

I was happy to hear Fu Lu say that she is surrounded by other women like her. Women who are less concerned with money than they are with the public good. "What is it that you all have in common?" I asked. She shook her head, but later said that it's perhaps because they are mothers, and they care about the world their children will inherit.

I know many people would dispute her observation, and that many men would claim the opposite is true. In the eyes of many, women love money more than men do. There's a famous line from a popular dating show in China called "If You Are the One", in which a female contestant told a poor boy from the countryside who wanted to date her, "I'd rather cry in the back of a BMW than laugh on the back of a bicycle." I asked Fu Lu which of the two she would pick. She wouldn't choose either, she said, and neither would the women she knows. I joked, that's because we ride our own bicycles, buy our own cars, and we don't cry.

From a bicycle kingdom to a car empire, China has evolved, and its society is evolving along with it. More and more women are now leading independent lives. That said, many Chinese women still face the dilemma of marrying for love or for money. When a woman chooses the BMW over the bicycle, she's placing her happiness in the hands of the male, the traditional subordinate role still assumed by millions of women. But not Fu Lu.

Fu Lu, the China director of Clean Air Asia, an international NGO that works for better air quality and healthier, more livable cities in Asia. [File photo provided for China Plus]

"Use your brain and follow your heart" was the advice of a female boss named Zhao Wei who she worked with at the United Nations Environment Program in Thailand. Ever since then, it's the advice she's followed whenever she comes to a crossroad in work or in life. She used her brain and followed her heart when she decided to come back to China to marry, and when she quit her job at a consulting company to work for an NGO. When I asked whether her friends' attitude towards her life choices has changed over the years, she said she doesn't really need the approval of others. The people who care about her understand that she is happily living a life of her choosing.

Fu Lu is giving her 10-year-old son the same freedom to grow and think independently as her parents gave her. Today, he wants to become a subway driver, or perhaps a basketball player. Fu Yu is happy with either choice, because it would be his own. But whatever career choices her son pursues, she is consciously fostering in him an awareness of the importance of environmental protection and sustainable habits. "If you educate a woman, you educate a family; if you educate a girl, you educate the future." This observation by Queen Rania of Jordan might sound a little demeaning to those good responsible men out there, like my father, who shared a big chunk of the burden of their children's upbringing. But it's an undisputed reality that in China and elsewhere in the world, women still play a bigger role than men in raising and educating children. Fu Lu was given the opportunity to flourish by her parents, and she is helping her son grow into a confident, independent, and responsible person just like his mother. And thanks to the hard work of people like his mother, I am optimistic that he will grow up and become part of a generation that will live in a cleaner and greener China.