China's Reds Embrace Green

China's President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao have recognized the seriousness of environmental degradation in China, and accordingly insist that the conventional Chinese path of encouraging economic growth at the expense of the environment has to be changed. As a first but most important step to clean up the country's development act, Hu and Wen incorporated for the first time energy-saving and environmental goals into the national five-year economic blueprint in China to clearly distinguish their vision of China's development from that of their predecessors. Clearly, this is a test of their leadership. In the meantime, it presents a unique opportunity for the two top Chinese leaders to put the country on a more sustainable development path. In my view, if Hu and Wen can make China green, history will record their contribution as equal to Mao Zedong's achieving China's independence, and Deng Xiaoping's creation of a more prosperous country