Are Chinese factories poisoning southern Europeans? | Focus on Europe

For China, the Balkans are the entry point to Europe, meaning that China is active in many industrial projects in this region. Chinese-owned companies run local factories, and are involved in coal power stations. But some of these endeavors seem to leave the environment and people’s health worse off. Our reporters want to find out more about China’s footprint in the Balkans.
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#Serbia #Bosnia #China

[@georgeedgeworth915]

China will continue to spread its methodologies as long as European consumers search for the cheapest products.

[@peka003]

Yea you are right,but there is no other choice for us,we cant afford any better

[@littlesometin]

@@peka003 If you can't afford any better then it's not aimed at you, but there is an enormous number of people in Europe spending mindlessly by treating everything as a commodity, it's their whole lifestyle.

[@PavolFilek]

Produce 100 % of food at home and you have not to go to Walmart

[@peka003]

there is no walmart in Serbia,producing food is hard work man@@PavolFilek

[@iliepetcan1736]

​@@peka003corect are local shops u dont need Lidl

[@agnesagni]

In Hungary, battery plants are popping up one after the other, land is being given over to the Chinese for toxic projects, polluting ground water, soil, air. Objections from citizens are being brushed aside.

[@user-br9oi2sh7o]

Make sure you tell, VW, BMW And Mer-Benz not to source this product from Hungary and the car industry will be fine as in Germany, there are good and quality products, OK!

[@MusehanaH]

...and do they make them any different in Germany? Don't forget to mention that in Germany there is no energy to power their manufacturing industry..be sure to mention that those Mercs and BMW's have huge market in China

[@Kartoffelsuppe_m_Wursteinlage]

Orban is elected president? Afterwards you demand EU to clean up the mess.

[@Kartoffelsuppe_m_Wursteinlage]

And afterwards you demand the EU to clean up the mess.

[@alxvideos6634]

If Hungary is the main production base of power batteries in the EU, then Hungary will have a greater voice and initiative in the EU and even the world.

[@domtweed7323]

Coal emissions are awful, much worse than nuclear waste. Germany should have kept its nuclear plants open, at least until coal was off the grid.

[@taterkaze9428]

The so-called environmentalists tend to be young and uninformed. They don't know anything about 21st-century nuclear tech, they only know "nuclear" is a bad word. At the same time, they are ignorant of PM2.5 and how it causes COPD and lung cancer. The total number of people known to be killed by nuclear power is limited to those affected by the Chornobyl incident, an event that has no bearing on modern nuclear power. Many, many more people are killed by coal power pollution every year.

[@rajahua6268]

I understand Chinese built coal power plant that is 10-12% less in term of emission and more than 15% more efficient than existing coal plant. But still I prefer nuclear-powered plant

[@domtweed7323]

@@rajahua6268 I prefer nuclear too. Though, even with nuclear, you don't get power that can easily be turned up/down to follow demand, so need some energy storage alongside it. But you should understand that their strategy for building coal power stations has completely changed recently. They used to build them and run them mostly flat-out. Now they build them as peaker-plants to balance intermittent renewables (including hydro, which is unreliable during droughts).

[@MauriceBln1]

Nonsense, there are good filter systems, but the Chinese don't install them.

[@lenzp4133]

What has that to do with China?

[@pancuha82]

Europe gave up on Balkans, especially Serbia. Thats the reason they look up to china

[@colloidalsilverwater15ppm88]

Tako je. A Amerika nas je predala Nemačkoj. I Sloveniju i Hrvatsku.

[@cubalibrebgd]

Yes, yes, but mining Lithium from Rio Tinto is healthy and good for people, that's why there are so many lithium mines in Germany.

[@bsdpowa]

This coming from Germans who keep pressuring Serbia to allow lithium mining for their BMWs and Audis...

[@slim-op8bi]

The point is that the Serbia government needs to regulate industries

[@JohnBosco.1308]

Serbian government is one of the most corrupt in the world, second only to Nigeria

[@ShadowPhoenixMaximus]

The point is if you give the CCP an inch you'll lose a mile.

[@Kartoffelsuppe_m_Wursteinlage]

They've already choosen their side.

[@Mishke820]

Point is EU need to stop supporting on Serbian autocracy because of some of their own goals...

[@cajaandjelkovic2975]

​@@Mishke820 People of Serbia chose to live under 'autocracy'. We don't need your support for 'democratization'. Just live us alone.

[@user-hp6eu6px7r]

I have been working both for Chinese and Russian companies. The big problem is they only want to maximise profits by any means possible. It doesn't matter if you get injured or factory literally explodes all they gonna do is exploit everything and run. That happened in Bosnia refinery in Bosanski Brod exploded due to lack of maintenance. We later found out it was late on maitenance 10 years.Pipe was rusted and gass from refining caused chain reaction.Explosion was felt from 30 km away(19 miles).The point is they dont maintain anithing and if you speak up you get fired.

[@carolinafd]

Not only these companies, but some politicians that ignore the problems pointed by locals.

[@sandraferreira7855]

Thank you for sharing this personal story

[@Devilishlybenevolent]

Its almost like its the definition of capitalism or something...

[@neverrl3379]

It's the definition of human nature. Capitalism could have been led into the right direction, but human greed would not allow it. "Humanity" will not allow a green world. Everything will be used up until it's all destroyed.@@Devilishlybenevolent

[@neverrl3379]

And we all contribute to it. We are the hamster in the running wheel that generates power. We humans are the fuel for a worldfire.

[@peterhumphrys]

The dark side of industrialization without sound environmental monitoring, we had similar disasters in North America in many places, especially up north with dead lakes which are lesser known, but the biggie in the great Lakes region was Love Canal near Buffaloe New York, I don't hear much about it anymore, but I just assume that it's a dead zone where no one should be living, especially with small children because of developmental concerns and the contaminants in the ground and water.

[@gfys756]

After 21 years and $400 million dollars of cleanup, Love Canal was taken off the Superfund list in 2004. People live there, today.

[@Durchzeitt]

What about Cancer allee?

[@Devilishlybenevolent]

"Nu UH! China bad, only they do this! End of story!" 🤣

[@windsong3wong828]

Richer nations always keep the best industries for itself ….and give the lousy polluting industries to poorer countries. The rich countries won’t want it. There are loads of countries that will fight for the lousy polluters. They bring jobs , monies etc…..

[@notme943]

that's not how it is. The rich country will welcome these factories too if the factory owner can jump through enough hoops to to ensure compliance with the strict environmental regulations. As a factory owner, you will of course choose the poorer country that doesn't require too much effort. It's not what the country choose to keep and what to give. It's pure business decision. The way you describe it, it just sounds like there is somehow a malicious intent to poison those poor countries. The poor country can and actually should regulate stricter when it comes to their own health and environment, even at the cost of slower growth.

[@MMLL369]

@@notme943 One could not talk of what kind of bread to chose from prior fulfilling daily needs. All countries, including the US / UK / Germany had gone through such development stages in the past such as the first two industrial revolutions. The only difference is it all happened ahead of other countries. If all these well developed countries want to stand on their moral high grounds, they should help the poorer countries, not just pointing fingers when they were being helped by countries like China.

[@liminghaung8636]

​@@notme943 Meticulously crafted and hypocritical rhetoric. The essence of transferring pollution to developing countries and accusing them is concealed under the guise of a free market choice. If you generously believe that developing countries can enact laws sacrificing economic development in exchange for less pollution, then why can't developed countries relax their laws a bit and accept some high-pollution factories? With great power comes great responsibility, right? How many years have developed countries been exporting plastic waste to developing countries? It's nominally recyclable material, but what is it really? Don't pretend to be confused. Why not keep such valuable treasures for yourselves instead of exporting them? They are recycling and lucrative right? Free Market loves profit, isn't it? When China stopped accepting such waste importing, what did your guys say? "How China’s Ban on Importing Waste Has Stalled Global Recycling"? Hilarious. You can definitely follow the Chinese way of crowding onto public transportation, conserving electricity. No consumption means no production and pollution. Who harms the earth, you know it.

[@notme943]

@@MMLL369 There is absolutely no obligation at all to help. I don't buy the excuse of capitalism and market force has somehow forced these countries into such circumstances. They can always cut themselves off from the global market and do as Bhutan do. They won't be rich but they won't be polluted either. The old developed countries had gone through such things in the past? But must it be repeated? We haven't learned anything from past mistakes? I don't have any moral high ground. I point out the logical thing here, instead of blaming and demanding help that will never come, do it yourself. If chinese help is worth it, then by all means, take it.

[@user-md1up9rk3z]

​@@liminghaung8636You bringing up garbage imports and exports is essentially pointing out a double standard in developed countries. Exporting waste doesn't directly harm the health of your own citizens; how to handle the waste is the responsibility of the receiving party. Similarly, you have the choice not to purchase it-no one forces you to buy. China, for instance, banned certain waste imports; isn't that a manifestation of a free market? On the other hand, in China, factories neglect environmental protection, overlook residents' health, establishing outdated industrial output at the expense of others' well-being-directly causing harm to their health. Fearing the authoritarian government's consequences, Serbia, entangled in its relations with China, hesitates to take action against Chinese companies, ultimately at the cost of local people's lives and health. Why shouldn't such incidents be reported? Isn't it justified? How does this make the argument hypocritical?

[@vivianms3721]

Total CO2 Emissions in last 100years (1900~2000): United States 292 billion ton, China 72 billion ton CO2 Emissions per capita at 2020: United States 15.5 ton, Japan 9.7 ton, Germany 9.4 ton, China 7.3 ton

[@aa-0731]

Not fool enough to believe data from china

[@VVayVVard]

Then look at toxic forms of pollution (i.e. not CO2) and the numbers are reversed. Those 50 cents haven't bought you an education, clearly.

[@caregazo2100]

Can you be educated, we are in 2024, so 2000 to 2023. How that look?

[@nxxxx9601]

11:12 “it’s poisons, wash your hands, but not in this water”😂

[@ajmosutra7667]

Balkan humor

[@user-uc5qu4xm9g]

BASF is currently expanding its operation in China, DW should tell us its environmental impact. If you don't know, BASF is a German chemical company.

[@MauriceBln1]

The environmental protection of German companies is better than that of Chinese companies!

[@varpen]

Yes, please point us to BASF's environment standards. Lets see it.

[@Quatsch_Verbreiter]

DW will for sure not tell you that. Because they have no clue about what they are talking everyday.

[@rafaelHgrassi]

Shell, BASF, Rhodia (Solvay nowadays)... polluted large regions from Brazil, with pesticides and other chemicals in the 60's, 70's and 80's. A lot of times dumping stuff directly in the soil. They are treating and recovering large areas until this day. Good thing is, because of this reckless approach, environment laws are strict, so even if a Chinese company operates in Brazil, we know it is following the rules. Other point is, no Chinese company can hold 100% of a company in Brazil, so there is always a Brazilian we can go after.

[@DerJuvens]

@@rafaelHgrassi A Chinese with Brazilian Citizenship probably or a Brazilian living abroad. And if you think the Chinese companies follow all the rules then you are nothing short of being naive, especially in Brazil. They rather bribe their way through the majority of things.

[@sandraferreira7855]

Very interesting documentary about a topic seldomly discussed. Thank you! I knew that China has businesses and industrial activities in Europe but I ignored their impact on health and environment locally and regionally. I would be interested in knowing the outcome of China’s involvement with French wineries in France, and with purchase of Farmland in the US.

[@user-eh2hj8bx6i]

A lot of the meat factories in the US too.

[@happymelon7129]

DW did it 13 days ago also ...desperate to follow agenda ? "Is a Chinese steel mill polluting cities in Serbia?"

[@happymelon7129]

selective reporting...need to follow agenda ? "How well did American managers do when they controlled the steel mills a decade or more back in time"? "Did DW do a news item about pollution under American management"?

[@happymelon7129]

China rank bottom on the foreign country purchase of Farmland in the US. But they just want to pin China. It's crazy how so many people are being taught to ha----te China and they have no idea what's going on within the country.

[@jesussonofgod6284]

GOD WILL ALWAYS BLESS CHINA AND ALWAYS BE WITH CHINA...!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 ✝️🇨🇳GOD BLESS CHINA🇨🇳✝️

[@user-ce7be3fo9s]

The point is that people over there need a better life, they need an economic boost, and if Germany is willing to give them that life, I'm sure they won't have what you're worried about again

[@viswanath4473]

© hing © hong cryneese

[@stevenyeah9541]

so the fact is they stay poor and you never had an idea of being poor, because every poor story on KZbin is just another story for others. "And thinking of the next holiday in southern part of France next summer. "@@siddharthsriram2685

[@hikashia.halfiah3582]

@@siddharthsriram2685 as someone from developing world, sometimes it's a choice between dying soon out of starvation or dying later from long term illness.

[@marvinmaradiaga5660]

Bingo

[@Luflandebrigade31]

Serbia is already receiving funds for development from the EU, while your whole country is cuddling with Stalin 2.0 in Russia. Decide what you want. The EU already has enough problems with Orban.

[@cinpeace353]

Wonder why Europe didn't buy the US steel production firm from US or the current owner from China to keep industrial production in Europe and make steel production green.

[@Masterrunescapeer]

Because the plant went bankrupt as it's old and is basically required to be rebuilt to follow emissions standards. If it is unprofitable if following environmental regulations, no EU company would buy it (and EU would enforce following those rules while China doesn't).

[@cleventlee6308]

Shameless western media.

[@saanko8742]

DW has forgotten the VW dieselgate scandal.

[@user-br9oi2sh7o]

Why is Germany's coal fired power plant still operating, aren't they supposed to shut down in 2022 as planned. So, you are asking the poor Southern Europe not to have energy right? why not build them a nuclear and in the meantime tell them to shut down and stay cold and no income as no electricity to produce anything.

[@waynema7829]

The subject matter is good, but there is a problem. I don’t know if I filmed a documentary about BASF factory in Asia and then named it that German is polluting Asia, what would the Germans think?

[@MrGreen087]

Right on spot 😂

[@JS-mu1fg]

The Germans must/have changed by 360 degrees, otherwise, they don't think.

[@Masterrunescapeer]

Whataboutism (tu quoque fallacy -> latin for "you also" argument). A "Germany" company polluting in Asia doesn't mean this isn't an issue. The issue is more companies will gravitate to wherever they can make the most profit, countries need to enforce environmental standards. Put "Germany" in quotes as it doesn't really have anything to do with the country, companies will company.

[@DBGE001]

That is not the point, the point is that a country is being framed as a polluter in this case, while when Bayer does exactly the same, it is the company that is being framed as a polluter. @@Masterrunescapeer

[@dave_sic1365]

Germany has laws against those practices now. Does China have them? Are they even proposed?😂

[@icu17siberia]

When a company buys a plant, it does "due diligence" to identify environmental risks-as well as other risks-to determine whether it needs to upgrade to current standards, upgrade pollution controls, etc. Failure to do this is negligence and management malpractice.

[@Majacaro]

Its funny how Western countries have factories, mines, and others businesses all over tge world, polluting poorer countries with their trash, for few decades.. but nobody says anything, ? then the chinese open a factory in europe, its a big deal huh ?..

[@DerJuvens]

Chinese Businessman: Yes.

[@Devilishlybenevolent]

@@DerJuvens Wait till you find out about the cancer alley/cancer belt in the USA. You think China is the only one doing this? The rich all over the world do this to their own population all the time. This is why we need STRONG governments with good regulation to protect the people, but alas politicians are cheap and easy to buy off. Just look at America.

[@dagmawii.e.4800]

😂😂😂 would like to hold responsible European companies that dump their hazardous and radioactive waste and damage the environment when operating in Africa? 🤷 Food for thought

[@happymelon7129]

selective reporting...need to follow agenda ? "How well did American managers do when they controlled the steel mills a decade or more back in time"? "Did DW do a news item about pollution under American management"?

[@moetocafe]

I guess Germany doesn't like competition. And I also presume DW won't be doing any such movie about Germany's and Netherland's big factories and industry, to which in comparison the Serbian plants looks like toys.

[@tadijavukicevic6752]

Until that factory was in ownership US firm you didnt make report like this.

[@dave_sic1365]

Because the citizens of the Village detected no Problems. They specifically said since the Chinese own the plant emissions become problematic 😂

[@WVirmilion]

Powerful reminder of the human cost of unchecked pollution

[@FredGG-mw9np]

Before Chinese company accquire the plant, the ex-USA owner must be innocent; When Chinese happen to buy it out, the blame suddenly came. Sorry, that's our fault as always as usual😂

[@qqx154]

This is so biased. Why don't they tell the whole truth? Then the whole world is polluting China by making China the factory of the world.

[@ciybersal3499]

Exactly

[@havencat9337]

yea...but DW wouldnt blame US.... they are the puppies listening to their boss

[@MarincaGheorghe]

The people there already said that after the Chinese state bought that factory things got worse. It's in the interview. Your accusation is null.

[@brewingtonnadine]

​@@qqx154woah you dont know who DW work for?😢

[@DushevnaSepsa]

Deutche Welle take note : narative here in Serbia is that we have huge % of cancer patients because of 99 bombing, but we have the worse ecological and consumer laws, we have the most smokers on the continent...i mean why shoud you care, but yea.

[@aronkracsun]

It is a very good documentary, I hope this channel makes another video about the impact of the Nato bombing after 1999. Those bombs included uranium the people in the West should know about also.

[@alikinsergey]

On 1:37 the woman touch the paper where we can read (on Serbian) information about life years of a person who dead. And it is 1943 - 2022. So this person lived 79 years. Not so bad in the environment destroed by China's factories...

[@ajmosutra7667]

People in balkans in villages used to live really long

[@guest-gsP2H5jkv4fsG]

The funny part is the WEST is doing the same thing in Asia. Now they accuse the others. "I CAN,BUT YOU CAN'T."

[@nawelturqui]

Very interesting information,well,to be continued.

[@shawnxl2419]

And you didn't talk about environmental issue when NATO bombed that beautiful country into oblivion. Now you are on your moral highhorse again? 😂😂

[@Pairofkingsup]

When an American business pollutes in a foreign country (and there are many many examples, google them if you’re curious), we blame it on the company. When a Chinese company does the same thing, we blame it on the entire country. What’s with the double standard here…

[@hellboy0189]

True but Chinese companies pollutes more as China is far less concerned than the US with environmental laws. And in 2024 China is more scary than the US. The real problem here is the corruption from the government of Serbia and Bosnia.

[@P3R5I3dark]

Just that all companies from China are fully controled by china comunist party. So not really double standard, but different regimes

[@Pairofkingsup]

@@P3R5I3dark it’s the same in the US. There is so much under the table deals happening between American politicians and large corporations it’s probably more feasible to say American corporations control the government. Search up super PACs, and look up corporate lobbying at all levels of government. It’s not a coincidence that almost every senator or congressman has tripled their net worth since entering office, or that president of the FDA 3 times in a row was a previous executive of Monsanto (gmo conglomerate with a vested interest in getting approved by the FDA). I could go on and on.

[@dorianx4771]

Western European companies that come for cheap labor also pollute! The Chinese bother you because they are competition!

[@user-mx6yq1ge7q]

before china management , how is the environment conditions where ?

[@bgtsetso]

quite biased material, there are a lot non-chineese factories which are poluting the air and soil. And not only in serbia, but in EU countries too

[@Masterrunescapeer]

whataboutism, just because there are others, doesn't mean this one isn't an issue.

[@aleksandarkovacevic2343]

@@Masterrunescapeer it is about how the documentary is being written. "How corporates are poisoning southern europeans?" would be more objective title, talking also about all other companies regardless of country.

[@petrosnikolaou7316]

Who pollutes Danube River, what are the recycling rates there? who doesn't use renewable energy sources???? i dont think China... Europe has to take strict regulations for climate, and environment.... here in Balkans we still have Dark ages due to conspiracy theoriests and superstitions

[@zhaoraymond8656]

what are you talking about？ Are European production activities completely pollution-free? There are so many chemical and new material companies in Germany, but none of them cause any pollution? Are the factories the United States invests in Europe pollution-free? Isn’t such reporting anti-China and discriminatory?

[@BillyDeeShilliums]

No, their governments are. The government should just put a regulations on the pollution and enforce them.

[@tonyxy4697]

Governments are corrupted.

[@Bettytinish]

Is this dust spreading with wind or in any way and how fast and far? Radius is very important

[@lbchen6160]

While in China here the polluting factories are forced to close

[@Adrian-foto]

Yes, the results when you stop owning your own country piece by piece because someone has a vision of profit or easy money and lets sell critical infrastructure regardles of the new owner... Then there is noone to protect local interests. IT can be seen across V4 countries as well :(

[@tigoes]

Nope, the story is the same for an usa company working in usa. If there are no regulations enforced by the state, most of the companies will ignore any negative effects of their business that require additional costs to get sorted out. Because if they dont, and they invest money on public good that is not required by law they lose in competitiveness. The problem is not a Chinese plant. The problem there is the state that most likely got stuck in transition from the communist regime, in that regime any plant was operated, and regulated, by the state it self. Western companies are no better, they will also do the strict minimum. Some of which were already kicked out of serbia, like Rio Tinto.

[@milosmilosevic9810]

​@@tigoespropaganda works😏

[@rajcevicbojan1187]

What about: Depleted uranium release events in the Balkan Peninsula. Approximately 320 tons of DU ammunition have been used in the first Gulf War, while around three tons were discharged on Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H) in the period between 1994 and 1995, one ton in Serbia and Montenegro, and 11 tons in Kosovo in 1999.?

[@Masterrunescapeer]

First two words define that argument: "whataboutism: the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue." Not sure how your argument is relevant to this, both can be an issue.

[@VVayVVard]

According to a research paper titled "Cancer mortality in Serbia, 1991-2015: an age-period-cohort and joinpoint regression analysis", cancer rates did go up by a couple percent following 1999. But only for a couple years. They've continued to drop ever since. Obviously, conflict is never good for the environment, though. But the situation has been improving, so it isn't really newsworthy at this point.

[@rajcevicbojan1187]

@@VVayVVard Italian military personnel who develop diseases they believe are linked to depleted uranium exposure will find it easier to win compensation under new rules proposed by Italy’s defense minister. The decision by minister Elisabetta Trenta marks a sea change in the way the Italian military treats the link between cancers and depleted uranium after years of ruling out any connection. Suspicions that a link exists have grown after military personnel developed diseases after serving as peacekeepers in the Balkans, where armaments containing depleted uranium were used by NATO forces in the 1990s conflict there. In recent years, 366 Italian military personnel have died, and 7,500 have taken sick with conditions potentially linked to depleted uranium, prompting courts in Italy to demand compensation, despite denials from military officials that any link existed.

[@Lucidarius]

Zasto nema podataka? Niste li ih vi trebali skupiti?

[@miskomarkovic3446]

Thank you

[@fleurdepapaye9635]

And look on EUROPEAN fast fashion companies do in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Indonesia. They poluted rivers and ground water as well.

[@tomkelly8827]

Hey as a follow up to this, could you go to China and show the tragic effects of companies like Tesla, VW and Apple moving their production lines there? The social and environmental effects as well as the corruption that is caused by these German and other Western countries? Just to give us a more balanced view of where the problems come from

[@KittenGlitz]

What about what about what about!

[@user-rk8yg8jd4t]

Germany is not doing the same, including all eu countries coming to Balcan area ?

[@user-nu5mn2pu5f]

EU doesn't have steel mills？

[@Kartoffelsuppe_m_Wursteinlage]

Steel production and best possible environment protection is unknown in china. Profits rules.

[@oneshothunter9877]

German Rheinmetall and Krupp do have steel mills in Germany. Sweden, too, I think. Bofors. There must be more, but now I'm too lazy to look it up on Google. Happy new year. 🎆🎉

[@63Vaso]

What big EU countries did around the world. China didn't bombarded us it was NATO 19 most developed countries plus USA .1.2 billion people attacked 7 miliona of Serbs. It was 1 serbian against 172 nato citizens. Economics power was even bigger .Coalition's has 1000 times more resources than Serbs and everyone was afraid to give us hands only Greek an Cyprian ❤❤❤

[@francoluissotomayor5521]

We went through that too

[@TheTrillionDollarTradeMovie]

Same in South Africa!!!!

[@TheTrillionDollarTradeMovie]

Go troll somewhere where you will get reaction@@saoham659

[@jackytang3683]

Back to fishing &hunting

[@user-wq2lu3fx7b]

We barely have any electricity in the first place, 6 hours of loadshedding a day. We should be the last country to switch to more expensive renewables.

[@VVayVVard]

@@user-wq2lu3fx7b Actually that's the exact reason you want something like solar. I read somewhere that the main energy company in SA is actually preventing people from doing so, because it would decrease revenue. And the state is colluded with them, so there's nothing people can do.

[@WVirmilion]

Exploring job opportunities and economic development outside of the steel plant to reduce dependence and allow for stricter environmental regulations.

[@anitazhong9565]

Shouldn’t be the responsibility of local environmental law enforcement department to these plants no matter local owned or foreign countries owned?

[@vasilijekojic2522]

It should be, but it is not thanks to corrupt politicians and, before all, our president

[@Devilishlybenevolent]

In the US, the plants get to appoint the people who "police" them. So guess what, everything is in good order and perfect standing

[@mimimarusig957]

They were bought. Cheaply.

[@qr5558]

A very contradictory statement. Don’t Europeans’ own factories have this problem?

[@thedzo]

In our country we don't have Chinese factories, all of them are western, also we have a lot of German vehicles which are contributing to the air pollution, so please DW be objective and make the same story here in MKD.

[@IRBry]

a week ago you said it was usa now it’s china?

[@henrietta1066]

European scientists haven't investigated environmental issues from Chinese / local factories.

[@knleung60]

In Hong Kong, one of the majn the energy sources is also coal, however, air quality seems much better than those Beijing or this one. Not enough filtering measues before emission is the main cause. But filter needs money.

[@hc1897]

That's because Hong Kong doesn't have dust storms.

[@Masterrunescapeer]

Hong Kong has about half of electricity from gas, a quarter from coal. Gas is about half the emissions of coal. They went from 30m tons from coal in 2014, and 5m in gas, to 13m coal and 8.3m gas in 2022. The rest of the reduction is from energy imports, so will be interesting to see what happens this year (2024) since the import agreements need to be renewed. Note that those energy imports have a good chance of being from coal, so they just shifted the problem elsewhere.

[@VVayVVard]

@@hc1897 He's not talking about dust... have you ever even been to HK / Beijing. There's this thick veil of smog over the bigger cities on the Mainland, like Beijing and Shanghai, nearly every day.

[@mylife70777]

Oh Germany and us companies are saint's

[@happymelon7129]

"Serbia has a substantial burden of cancer deaths, which might be a consequence of the depleted uranium bombs used by NATO in 1999 during air strikes" -The Lancet, Oncology

[@ylmazyilmaz6350]

Thank you for interest to enviroment DW. We are waiting for Danube river pollution also.

[@59Dinara]

So, that is the reason Yugoslavia was destroyed and it"s people pushed into poverty. This way foreign companies are allowed to buy land, resorts and exploit the natural resources on their own terms. In former Yugoslavia, there were no laws that would allowed that.

[@tombombadillo1]

Tbh sounds like Serbia is more to blame than China (beyond the opaqueness of China, Serbia is the one not adding or enforcing environment regulations).

[@kevinye1753]

All steel mills do like this, at least China money injection saved so many people’ jobs. Local government should pay to move people nearby to a safer neighborhood.

[@harveyliuistrong9669]

CO2 Emissions per Capita ton/per capita 2022 Germany 8.16, Serbia 6.13, Hungary 4.95 Which country polluted Europe sky more?

[@RenatoLaporte]

Okay, understandable. But the woman on 15:20 is complaining about deceases with a cigarette pack on her hands.

[@vidpetrovic8907]

The thought that this is happening a few hundread km from my home is just scary. I'm so happy my goverment is not corrupt, and that I live in a non polluted village. No wonder many people, especially from Tuzla move here. I even have a friend from Tuzla, and I never knew it was that bad down there.

[@tofindtrek]

the point is that the west is not interested in investing in Serb which has to turn to the east to develop its economy at the cost of lower enviroment protection standard.

[@Marina-xr6td]

EU is one of the biggest investors in Serbia, which also is using EU's preacession funds. They turned to east voluntarily. Enough with this constant blaming of EU for anything under the sun.

[@a2xd94]

If Serbia wanted to prove that it was a reliable neighbor and ally, it could recognize it’s dark past and stop denying how horrible its regime acted during the 90s, and finally get off of its high nationalist horse

[@bubee8123]

Eu invests 5 time more in Serbia than China and Russia combined wake up!

[@HladniSjeverniVjetar]

@@a2xd94 They don't care...i see them as nihilistic nationalism dreaming of enlarging an empire that happened by mistake once a upon a time.

[@bi-joconstruction604]

Has Serbia attacked Germany ever?????I never heard about that!!!!!!! @@a2xd94

[@sybil3716]

Is it possible to put down pollution while still keeping job opportunities for the locals？if the answer is yes, then of course we need to solve the pollution. There surely is a standard to follow with for whatever plants there？

[@Masterrunescapeer]

Yes, that's what the filter requirements are, just that many of these plants are so old that it's not profitable to retrofit them. There should be subsidies or tax breaks to do so instead of this, where it's just ignored.

[@tigoes]

Yeah but then if i ask you why the hellk did they build a power plant in a middle of a city in bosnia? Or nuclear power plants on the shores of, earth quake / tsunamy rich, Japan?

[@W_Bin]

@dwnews If it's doing this to Balkans, what's it doing to Africa? Investigation please! Also please do a comparison of type and $ between US/western and Chinese aid to Africa. Many trolls claiming China helps Africa more than the west. We need the true facts one way or another.

[@lastChang]

And as environmentalists say, "China's electric cars run on coal instead of electricity." LOL

[@richiesd1]

OMG, do you want manufacturing or not?

[@munzekonzarupe]

It doesn't matter if it's China or the USA. As long as you have corrupt politicians and authorities who are supposed to strictly enforce laws to protect workers and the environment, it will be the same. If the appropriate inspections looked a little more often and controlled what they are responsible for, there would be no problem. Therefore, it is not the exclusive fault of the companies that work in our country, because profit is the most important thing to them, but also us for not taking care of ourselves and our country.

[@clouds2593]

Leave China alone.

[@jordisanz2376]

even the lady her hair turned red

[@LeoCesar-yr1wp]

And that's how the "Capital Free Market" works my friends.

[@andrazlogar861]

Yes.

[@user-rh5jp2sh4s]

So the issue is that they are Chinese plants ofcourse Western plants are clean by default 😉.... rather then talking of having strong environmental standards and their strict implementation, regardless of the company's land of origin they indulge in geopolitical rivalry in the garb of environmental protection.

[@icu17siberia]

I think the issue is voluntary compliance with known standards or forced compliance with known standards.

[@victorfan6263]

Crazy thing is, if you look into it the plants in the story were only recently taken over by Chinese companies to run. Where was the DW outrage before 2021? Did the same plants create magic and balloons while other companies were running it. Literally decades of steel mill pollution but suddenly outrage is very telling of DW

[@user-rh5jp2sh4s]

@Radonslur Well, the real question is what are laws, and are they being implemented

[@lenzp4133]

Compared to corrupt shortcut China companies, yea Western companies are by default cleaner because they follow international law.

[@Masterrunescapeer]

Whataboutism argument again, not that plants are clean in the west by default, but that that one isn't, and it isn't being held up to environmental standards of the country, seemingly because ties with China (strongarm due to loans).

[@politics4304]

60% of carbon emmisions are done by western civilizaton. what you have to say about that?

[@hugoboss917]

Tell that to the people of Balkans

[@trumpforever6706]

The West is the largest consumer of raw materials in the world, which is why Russia's enormous resources are tempting and NATO has progressively expanded to the East. But Putin saw the plan and, unexpectedly, called the cards on the table. And now NATO is stuck in Ukraine.

[@inoculateinoculate9486]

China is the single largest carbon emitter on earth, which means they are carrying the entire team in the eastern side, while your 60% is spread over the entire western world. What's more important is that the western carbon emission is DECREASING due to deliberate environmental policy, while China's is INCREASING due to developmental policy. Don't get it twisted, in 10 years China alone will be over 60% of all global carbon emissions.

[@user-wq2lu3fx7b]

⁠@@inoculateinoculate9486Really want to compare a country of 1.4 billion? Or are we going to ignore that fact and decide global warming is China’s fault and we shouldn’t have to give up luxuries for continued survival as a species

[@grossersalat578]

These living conditions have been endured by Chinese for very long and we profited from this. It is a bit hypocritical to complain now.

[@code111japan]

4:52, he says "Better for them to work than to sit around (at home)". Not "having a job is more important than the environment". Not cool if it was on purpose.

[@AoibhinnMcCarthy]

Blaming China is politically correct 😅

[@ArabicReja973]

As of 2022, China 🇨🇳 was by far the world's largest *coal* consumer with 55% of energy use, an increase of 2% of the total energy from the year before. So China is accelerating the use of coal despite it having signed the Paris agreement.

[@domtweed7323]

China isn't accelerating coal use. They want to use coal as back-up for the renewables fleet, so they're building new coal power stations but using each power station less (basically as coal peaked plants, like how Germany uses it's Bituminous coal power stations). But overall Chinese coal use looks like it's peaked, and will start falling a bit over the next few years.

[@inoculateinoculate9486]

Simply untrue. China is rapidly increasing coal fired powerplant building, AND coal burning. They cannot get enough coal. Their coal use is set to peak in 2060 before they begin tapering down. There is no other alternative which can satiate the need for energy in China at a cost that is acceptable.

[@IamHandsome4u]

This bot again, as of 2023, china tops in solar energy, hydro energy, wind energy and in electric vehicles. U gonna ignore that bot?😂

[@IamHandsome4u]

China also cancelled 106 coal plants. Remember to get full fact not half u bot.

[@zobenny8290]

robot get out

[@kokuz0512]

Everything is for sale. Just name the price. And you can buy it

[@Elfan97-ec1uk]

Tell me a factory in Europe which is the same as China's manufacturing process n which does not cause pollution !

[@walterjurewicz1567]

China purposely choose the Balkans since geographically they are near the big economies of Europe but other then Slovenia and Croatia which are part of the EU, China can easily open up these factories in these countries that have little regulation just to get some cheap FDI from China. Why do you think Italy quit the Belt and Road infrastructure project, it does not want to sell out and become another waste land.

[@rollingdownfalling]

This documentary was on your other Channel 12 days ago. A bit strange they're not uploading at the same time. Many years ago, there used to be something called "the Cancer Village" in China, so really not surprising they're able to do this if the local government in Serbia is very corrupt.

[@happymelon7129]

DW did it 13 days ago also ...desperate to follow agenda ? "Is a Chinese steel mill polluting cities in Serbia?"

[@happymelon7129]

"Serbia has a substantial burden of cancer deaths, which might be a consequence of the depleted uranium bombs used by NATO in 1999 during air strikes" -The Lancet, Oncology

[@VVayVVard]

The insidious part is that you can't even look up that village on the Mainland. Instead of trying to fix the issue, they're literally doing everything they can to make sure no one becomes aware of it.

[@zer1551]

western Rio Tinto company already have a plan to create cancer villages😂😂

[@VVayVVard]

@@zer1551 Luckily in developed countries people are able to freely discuss issues, which means that if any major problems emerge, they can be fixed instead of being brushed under the rug.

[@cpx9707]

To be fair to the Chinese company, the DW should tell us the date when the Chinese company took ownership of the steel plant or the power plant. Also please release the date when those people who started to get sick. The people who claim the air is polluted I have a question for you. Is the pollution caused by the previous owner of the company or the new Chinese owner? I watched another video that claims the pollution was there already before the Chinese company bought the plant. The Chinese company is actually doing the cleanup not another way around. Two different stories. So controversial to each other. The fact that people don’t want the DW interview is very fishy here.

[@dmedic213]

The southern European countries feel left alone by the EU, so they cooperates with other investors. Look at the map of EU. In midst of Europe is a hole with non EU Nations. But your talking bout Turkey joining the EU, which is 90 on asian ground. And China just does what they didn't. Invest. And Serbia is at their own fault for not regulating industries and setting environmental standards. Every rich nation will exploit the poorer ones. We in Europe are not better considering how we pollute African countries with our mining industry for example. ✌

[@TristanZ-ks8jw]

That’s the same reason why Being’s air is so bad

[@terranowa2080]

Unconditional right to stop our own life whenever we want medically, my body my choice. Freedom

[@zlatanzakic]

Yes, they do, and it's terrible!

[@havencat9337]

This documentary was done a second time about the same factory... DW did this a year or 2 ago, I think you guys are phathetic!

[@yummyfunnydiscovery]

When I was very young, I had great admiration and respect for the Western media. Now, I find that I was too young too simple, sometimes naive.😅😅😅

[@barryryan5187]

it's called journalism and is probably banned in your country

[@happymelon7129]

DW did it 13 days ago also ... "Is a Chinese steel mill polluting cities in Serbia?"

[@happymelon7129]

"Serbia has a substantial burden of cancer deaths, which might be a consequence of the depleted uranium bombs used by NATO in 1999 during air strikes" -The Lancet, Oncology

[@BokasaTzar]

@@barryryan5187 No, no ... after NATO spread depleted uranium we see everythingi kristal clear

[@kokuz0512]

Pollution tax is expensive.

[@AG-GA]

SUCH A EVIL TITLE.

[@littlerick3458]

Spanish never sounded more eastern european than in this documentary.

[@Mr_AlterEagle]

If China had invested in Albania, Croatia or Kosovo I don't think DW would have made such a big fuss

[@dajkula]

don`t compare Croatia with Albania and Kosovo, we are not there yet

[@thevilkids]

Kosovo is not a country.

[@JA-pn4ji]

Typical anti-China lies. When the Americans were in charge of Smederevo they hardly produced anything, to praise them for not polluting is like praising them for running an unproductive loss-making plant that they invested nothing to improve, and eventually sold for $1. In the Balkans, the Chinese are not the first choice investment partners but only asked to invest after European and American investors have either refused to invest or failed to make these factories productive. The Chinese turned around the Smederevo steelworks into Europe's most profitable. The Chinese did not build this plant, it was built by the former Yugoslavia. The factories the documentary is complaining about were all built in the Soviet era by Yugoslavia, the Chinese were invited to invest in these Soviet-era factories to prevent their closure and preserve employment. The program is also blaming and solely accusing the Chinese for legacy pollution costs they did not incur, and the negligence of the various Balkan governments for not closing these plants and instead inviting outside investors, who undoubtedly would like to recoup their investments. Similarly, the Dutch have complained of serious health and environmental problems associated with Tata Steel's Ijmuiden steel plant, but never do you see headlines like "Are Indian factories poisoning ..?" The proper unbiased headline should be "Are Soviet-era factories poisoning ..?" or "Are aging factories poisoning ..?", instead an ethnic and racist twist is added because the plants are run by non-European Chinese.

[@taterkaze9428]

China's environmental and quality record with overseas projects and investments is characterized by poor engineering, shoddy construction, and disregard for environmental impact. China built a hydro dam in Ecuador that is operated at a fraction of its designed capacity because it is full of cracks. The only "ethnic and racist twist [towards] non-Europeans" here is the failure to mention that Chinese industries behave exactly the same way in China. This DW piece centers on the mishandling of coal ash, known to be a toxic pollutant everywhere on Earth. Chinese corporations will pollute in the absence of laws prohibiting specific behaviors and will pollute if such laws exist but local governments can be persuaded to look the other way. The entire Chinese economy is built around government corruption. China itself is very polluted and the CCP has total disregard for the health of ordinary Chinese. The CCP exports their model to advance its goal of promoting authoritarianism.

[@JA-pn4ji]

@@taterkaze9428 Do you know the song with the line, “All you ever do is criticise...?”. That’s the West! China has invested $19 billion in Ecuador including building the Coca Codo Sinclair (CCS) hydroelectric plant, Ecuador's largest hydropower plant. This plant supplies 30% of Ecuador’s electricity, and Ecuador turned to China after attempts to obtain western help to build it failed. The 1,500-megawatt CCS has been running smoothly for over six years, generating around 42 billion kWh of clean and renewable hydroelectricity, becoming the largest power source for Ecuador The cracks found do not affect its operation and safety, as they affect the turbine distributors i.e. machinery installation. In fact, most dams constructed throughout the world contain cracks but these are only publicised when built by China. The misimpression the West is deliberately giving through its trolls is that there are cracks in the wall of the CCS dam. Ecuador hired a German testing agency as an independent third party inspector, and it concluded in its report that these cracks 'will not affect the operation and safety of the plant for its design life of 50 years.' As to pollution, the biggest pollutants in Europe are the Germans.

[@happymelon7129]

"Serbia has a substantial burden of cancer deaths, which might be a consequence of the depleted uranium bombs used by NATO in 1999 during air strikes" -The Lancet, Oncology

[@happymelon7129]

DW did it 13 days ago also ...desperate to follow agenda ? "Is a Chinese steel mill polluting cities in Serbia?"

[@VVayVVard]

Anti-China reporting, maybe. But I fail to find any lies. Care to point me in the right direction? They said the factory lacks proper filters. Was that a lie, or the truth?