It should be borne in mind that the legal awareness of the Chinese people is being heightened as the nation becomes increasingly law-governed.

The Chinese people's greater awareness of their legal rights automatically requires that their environmental rights are guaranteed. This, in turn, prompts the government to strengthen the law enforcement in this regard.

Besides law enforcement, more authority should be given to relevant government departments so that their responsibilities will cover wider areas, which facilitates the tackling of environmental problems. This is because environmental matters involve different sectors and localities. The polluted Songhua River, for example, flows through Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces in the northeast of the country.

In the past, the Yellow River and Huaihe River water conservation committees were set up to supervise water conservancy and flood-control tasks in the valleys of these two major rivers. These two specialized committees have made impressive accomplishments.

Tackling water pollution today requires the establishment of such specialized and co-ordinating organizations.

In addition, we need legislation covering specific river valleys or regions as a complement to existing environmental protection decrees, which are largely general in nature. For example, why should we not draw up a law tackling dust storms in North China and why should we not enact the decree involving the protection of water resources in the valley of the Songhua River?

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