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Chinese Media:
●Global Times
Nonetheless, ensuring a healthy environment cannot rely on the accidental exposure of environmental scandals and "management after pollution." The country's citizens, including both ordinary people and officials, should bear in mind the necessity of protecting the environment, so carcasses will be properly disposed of and there will be no worries about water safety.
●Xinmin.cn:
Li Fengting, professor at College of Environmental Science and Engineering of Tongji University
“The upper reaches of a river do not need to be responsible for the protection of the lower reaches, according to the current supervision model in China. Therefore, even though Shanghai, which lies downstream of the Yangtze Delta, has local legislation for protecting water sources, it is still powerless to supervise upstream.”
“A national law for the protection of water sources is needed now in order to make clear local governments’ responsibilities in protection and pollution control of drinking water sources, and to improve early-warning and crisis management mechanisms. In a word, the government lies upstream, and downstream should share equal responsibilities and obligations.”
Zheng Zheng, director of Fudan University Basin Pollution Control Research Center
Tests are mainly conducted on whether the water has been contaminated with chemical substances. However, health and quarantine authorities also need to test for the possibility of virus contamination.
●Hunan-based rednet.cn:
The opaque data regarding the quality of drinking water in the Huangpu River released by the local government actually raises more questions and causes more rumors among the public. If the Shanghai government had promptly invited media and local residents to the investigation of the dead pig case, the situation may have been totally different.
●China.com.cn:
Since different cities share the same river, the responsibility should not be separated. Different areas and departments should share and integrate resources and information, and establish a linkage mechanism to protect the river in the event of an emergency.
●Hubei-based cnhubei.com:
The “dead pig” case is not an isolated event. It highlights many issues such as the different roles of the government and the public, supervision of the media and information publication, which are also tests for the government during the process of reform.
●Cb.com.cn:
According to local residents, dead pigs have appeared in this area before, but made waves this time due to the staggering quantity. Monitoring sites are supposed to be stationed along the river. The people in charge of monitoring water quality should have discovered this, so why did they choose to hide the truth?
Furthermore, although Shanghai officials said they had found no threats to public health, numerous online photos of bruised pig carcasses from the river's brackish waters and its filthy embankments make it tough for the public to be convinced by the official investigation results.
Foreign Media:
Guardian: Thousands of dead pigs found floating in Chinese river
China's toxic smog, rubbish-strewn rivers and contaminated soil have emerged as a source of widespread anger over the past few weeks, as profit-minded officials jostle with aggrieved internet users over how to balance the country's economic development with its environmental concerns.