The Paradox of China’s Sustainability

Abstract

If a civilization thrives by modifying, exploiting, and damaging its environment—and has done so for several millennia—does it make sense to call it a “sustainable” one? With its claims to be one of the oldest civilizations in world history and a rising superpower in the twenty-first century, China is a paradoxical case. Not only are China’s aspirations for sustainable development at odds with its current status as one of the world’s worst polluters, but the expansion of Chinese-style settlements and croplands has historically been a major driver of environmental transformation and degradation on the eastern Eurasian landmass. As China’s environment continues to be altered in the twenty-first century, “ecological civilization” (shengtai wenming) has emerged as an ideological framework for the type of sustainable development that China’s political leadership envisions for the country. Incorporated into the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China in 2018, “ecological civilization” is the newest among five guiding principles for China’s development in the post-Mao era. To address the potentialities of China’s "ecological civilization," we should first recognize the paradoxical nature of Chinese interactions with the environment. This chapter offers a critical survey of key positions on China’s history, culture, and environment to illuminate what scholars perceive to be the paradox of China’s sustainability.