Editing Environmental movement (section)

==== China ====
{{Further|Environmentalism in China}}

China's environmental movement is characterized by the rise of environmental NGOs, policy advocacy, spontaneous alliances, and protests that often only occur at the local level.<ref>{{cite web |author=Fengshi Wu |year=2009 |title=Environmental Activism and Civil Society Development in China: 15 Years in Review |url=http://www.harvard-yenching.org/sites/harvard-yenching.org/files/featurefiles/WU%20Fengshi_Environmental%20Civil%20Society%20in%20China2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309234612/https://www.harvard-yenching.org/sites/harvard-yenching.org/files/featurefiles/WU%20Fengshi_Environmental%20Civil%20Society%20in%20China2.pdf |archive-date=9 March 2017 |access-date=15 August 2018 |publisher=Harvard-Yenching Institute Working Paper Series}}</ref> Environmental protests in China are increasingly expanding their scope of concerns, calling for broader participation "in the name of the public."<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Christoph Steinhardt |author2=Fengshi Wu |year=2016 |title=In the Name of the Public: Environmental Protest and the Changing Landscape of Popular Contention in China |journal=The China Journal |volume=75 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.1086/684010 |s2cid=102491027}}</ref>

The Chinese have realized the ability of riots and protests to have success and had led to an increase in disputes in China by 30% since 2005 to more than 50,000 events. Protests cover topics such as environmental issues, [[land consumption|land loss]], income, and political issues. They have also grown in size from about 10 people or fewer in the mid-1990s to 52 people per incident in 2004. China has more relaxed environmental laws than other countries in Asia, so many polluting factories have relocated to China, causing [[pollution in China]].

[[Water pollution]], [[water scarcity]], [[soil pollution]], [[soil degradation]], and [[desertification]] are issues currently in discussion in China. The [[groundwater table]] of the [[North China Plain]] is dropping by 1.5&nbsp;m (5&nbsp;ft) per year. This groundwater table occurs in the region of China that produces 40% of the country's grain.<ref name="Asia">{{cite web |last=Bello |first=Walden |date=12 October 2007 |title=The Environmental Movement in the Global South |url=http://www.tni.org/archives/act/17458 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605202704/http://www.tni.org/archives/act/17458 |archive-date=5 June 2013 |access-date=15 February 2013 |publisher=Transnational Institute}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |title=The Last Liberal |publisher=Permanent Black |pages=27–28}}</ref> [[Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims|The Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims]] works to confront legal issues associated with environmental justice by hearing court cases that expose the narratives of victims of environmental pollution.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yang |first=Guobin |year=2005 |title=Environmental NGOs and Institutional Dynamics in China |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/341/ |url-status=live |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=181 |pages=44–66 |doi=10.1017/S0305741005000032 |s2cid=15522940 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210527121539/https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/341/ |archive-date=27 May 2021 |access-date=2 July 2018}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=July 2018}}  As China continues domestic economic reforms and integration into global markets, there emerge new linkages between China's domestic [[environmental degradation]] and global ecological crisis.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fengshi Wu |title=Critical Issues in Contemporary China: Unity, Stability and Development |author2=Richard Edmonds |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |editor=Czes Tubilewicz |place=London and New York |pages=105–119 |chapter=Chapter 7: Environmental degradation in China}}</ref>

Comparing the experience of China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan reveals that the impact of environmental activism is heavily modified by domestic political context, particularly the level of integration of mass-based protests and policy advocacy NGOs. Hinted by the history of neighboring Japan and South Korea, the possible convergence of NGOs and anti-pollution protests will have significant implications for Chinese environmental politics in the coming years.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Fengshi Wu |title=Routledge Handbook of Environment and Society in Asia |author2=Wen Bo |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |editor1=Graeme Lang |place=London and New York |pages=105–119 |chapter=Nongovernmental Organizations and Environmental Protest: Impacts in East Asia |editor2=Paul Harris}}</ref>