Representatives from 163 countries met this week in Thailand to discuss a new global warming pact, with Japan proposing that national borders not be taken into account when setting emission standards for certain industries:

Under the Japanese proposal, certain businesses such as steel and cement making would set industrywide targets for energy efficiency. Proponents, including the United States, say this would ensure fair competition among steel makers across national boundaries. It would also allow Japan to take advantage of its already high standards of energy efficiency.

Developing nations and environmentalists, however, say they don’t have enough information about Japan’s proposal. Some fear it could be used to impose reduction targets on certain industries in poorer nations while allowing rich countries to do less to battle global warming.

“The developing countries as a whole are very suspicious of how that concept is being used,” said Angela Anderson, director the Pew Environmental Group’s global warming campaign.

Japan wants the talks as soon as possible, while developing nations are eager to hear first about what industrialized countries will do to cut their emissions of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse” gases blamed for global warming, and how much money they will spend to help poor nations adapt to climate change.

“That’s causing tension,” said Ian Fry, representative of the island nation of Tuvalu.

Why is Japan pushing for such measures? It might have something to do with the alarming amount of pollution coming from China. An article in today’s Taipei Times highlights the effects of Chinese pollution on Japan.

Here is an excerpt about cross-border pollution damaging the famous trees of Mt. Zao and the sand issue:

Looking at satellite data, he and another professor, Junichi Kudo of Tohoku University, concluded that the acid in the trees came from sulfur produced at factories in China’s Shanxi Province.

Since he first wrote about his research in a scientific journal in 2006, elementary school teachers have asked him to give lectures to local children.

“It’s hard to explain this kind of scientific evidence to children, but finally they seem to come up with the same question: ‘What are you going to do about the problem?’” Yanagisawa said.

He regretted that he had no good answer.

“The pollution comes from outside Japan. There’s a limit to what local residents here can do,” he said.

Mount Zao is only one example of pollution hitting Japan from China, where factory emissions are causing international concern as its economy soars ahead.

Some schools in southern Japan and South Korea have occasionally curbed activities because of toxic chemical smog from China’s factories or sand storms from the Gobi Desert caused by rampant deforestation.

Environmental ministers of China, Japan and South Korea agreed last year to look jointly at the problem, but Tokyo has accused Beijing of secrecy.

“About yellow sand, I am not quite sure how and why it can be regarded as a national secret,” Japanese environment minister Ichiro Kamoshita said in February.

Yanagisawa remembers making a presentation on his academic findings at a Chinese university in the early 1990s.

“When I suggested the possibility that Japan was being hurt by cross-border pollution from China, the whole audience booed my speech,” he said with a bitter smile.

“Even now, it’s a sort of taboo to mention cross-border pollution when I’m invited to give a speech in China,” he said.

Japanese officials say they are hoping to cooperate on the environment with Beijing, as Tokyo has been trying to repair ties after years of friction.

China has pledged to reduce its pollution on its own, but such pledges are unlikely to calm critics, some of whom are calling for a “carbon tariff” on goods from China.

A few related videos

1. A CBS report about Chinese pollution and American inaction:

2. The Onion News Network’s spin on Chinese pollution: