. An online documentary that exposed the grave health effects of pollution in China and the ways in which industrialists have flouted environmental laws in China was viewed by 200 millions of shocked Chinese citizens. It was then taken down from all websites in China by an army of Chinese censors in just six days. Chai Jing’s documentary “Under the Dome”, which went viral, was a controversial film about the Chinese government. This documentary reveals who is most vulnerable and how they are affected the most by China’s harmful pollutants. The documentary shows the grave threat to Shaanxi’s health from rising levels of harmful fumes from coal-fired power plants. After the documentary was removed by censors with success, pollution levels rose sharply in Beijing on Saturday. The World Health Organization considered PM2.5 safe at seven times the levels. A young girl aged just six years old, Mr. Jing, explains that she doesn’t know what a “blue sky” looks like. Environment regulations are often broken. The film shows several instances of factories breaking regulations. There is also a lot of open communication from officials, who acknowledge that environmental law violations are common. Most people ignore regulations for economic growth and job protection. Initial research by Ms. Jing revealed that she was supported by the government. She had direct access to almost every part of China. The Government was keen to launch the film, and several government officials described it as China’s answer to Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient truth”. Chen Jining (China’s Environment Minister), a well-known, UK-educated academic sent the producers a text congratulating them. Ms. Jing says, “We must change the way the Government supervises energy.” The censors arrived. However, Friday was six days later and the official mood had changed. Beijing’s army censors searched the Internet looking for the documentary, and erased it. All trace of the documentary had disappeared from all parts of China by Saturday morning. It was not even shown on the top-rated video sites, like Youku or Tudou. According to Financial Times, a Shanghai newspaper employee was fired after being accused of leaked a “secret propaganda instruction” that told all media outlets, radio stations, and television broadcasters not to mention or show the documentary. Chinese residents were furious at this sweeping step by the censors. The Telegraph quoted Weibo users (equivalent to Twitter) who said: “In this nation, there are too many that cannot be discussed. Chai Jing’s documentary made certain government departments uncomfortable, and it was blocked today. Chen Jining (China’s Environment Minister) initially congratulated producers of the documentary. Everything changed when the video was released. The video was released and quickly spread like wildfire across the nation. It seemed that a new age of open discussion and open ideas exchange had begun to emerge in China. It was exciting to see the possibility of a Chinese Renaissance. Soon, people realized this was a far-fetched dream. Beijing’s censors quickly reopened the door. Yuan Ren from Beijing wrote in The Guardian that “Chai’s documentary had empowered China’s online communities to awaken to the dangers and express solidarity with this national headache.” It was China’s only topic for three consecutive days. On Saturday, Mr. Jining was due to meet with the media. He recently took on the role of environment minister. The film and what happened to it were not mentioned in any question. There is a lot of information in China about the pledges made by Mr. Jining. The documentary is not mentioned in China, a country where freedom of speech has yet come. China’s annual legislative meeting began with President Xi Jinping promising to “punish with an iron hand” anyone who damages the environment or ecology. Video: Under the Dome
After 200 million people watched the video, Pollution Video was removed by Chinese censors
