央視網霧霾五大意外收穫說遭炮轟

Increased instances of lung cancer. Respiratory problems. Asthma. Even ugly sperm. The list of noxious side effects China's notorious pollution causes is well known -- a point one Beijing newspaper felt compelled to make in a commentary following recent state-media efforts to spin the country's smog.

肺癌患者增多。呼吸系統疾病。哮喘。甚至是醜陋的精子。中國備受爭議的污染所帶來的諸多有害副作用是衆所周知的。在國有媒體最近宣傳中國霧霾的“意外收穫”後，一家北京的報紙感覺有必要在一篇評論文章中闡明污染有害的觀點。

'It's beyond one's imagination to find 'positive energy' to unite the people in smog,' the Beijing Times said Tuesday ( in Chinese). 'But for some people, one way to show their existence is to treat a funeral as happy event and find pleasure in disasters.'

《新京報》週二說：能在霧霾中找到凝聚人心的“正能量”，這是一般人想不到的。但對於有些人來說，其展示存在感的意義，就是把喪事說成喜事，從不幸中斬獲快感。

The commentary came a day after an essay posted on the website of China Central Television outlined the 'five surprising benefits' of the country's severe air pollution ( in Chinese): it unites people, makes them more equal, raises citizen awareness and knowledge and leads to an elevated sense of humor.

這篇評論文章發表的前一天，央視網上發表的一篇文章列出了中國嚴重空氣污染的“五大意外收穫”：霧霾讓中國人更團結、更平等、更清醒、更幽默、長知識。

The pollution 'unifies the Chinese people' and 'makes the country more equal,' the essay noted, as citizens unite around a common complaint that doesn't discriminate based on age, residence or income.

央視網上的文章指出，霧霾讓中國人更團結、更平等，因爲大家因爲一個共同的問題而團結起來，這個問題不因年齡、住所或收入而異。

While it wasn't clear whether the piece was meant to be genuine or satirical, neither official media outlets nor members of China's online community took too kindly to the broadcaster's apparent attempt at putting a positive spin on the toxic air.

不清楚這篇文章本意如此還是在反諷，但官方媒體機構和中國網民都強烈抨擊央視顯然是在試圖宣傳有害空氣的做法。

'We lost the sight of blue sky in the smog, but we see clearly an ugly face instead,' the Beijing Times argued.

《新京報》說：霧霾讓人看不到藍天，卻意外看到另一種嘴臉。

China's bloggers offered up to CCTV their own suggestions of benefits from the pollution.

中國的微博用戶就污染的好處向央視提供了自己的建議。

'Add this to the list: the opportunity to go abroad!' one user of Sina Weibo, China's biggest Twitter-like microblogging platform, wrote.

一位新浪微博用戶寫道，再加一條，有出國的機會。新浪微博是中國最大的類似於推特(Twitter)的微博平臺。

'In the smog, people cannot be seen clearly, so everyone looks more beautiful because all their imperfections are hidden by the smog,' another quipped.

另外一位新浪微博用戶調侃道，霧霾天看不清人，每個人看起來都更漂亮，因爲瑕疵都被霧霾遮住了。

Social media users also had took exception to a report in the Global Times, a nationalist-leaning tabloid published by the Communist Party flagship newspaper People's Daily, that argued the country's smoky skies benefitted China militarily by interfering with enemy surveillance and weapons guidance systems.

社交媒體用戶也對《環球時報》一則文章表示反感，文章稱，霧霾天氣有利於中國的軍事防守，因爲霧霾會干擾敵方的偵察活動和武器的制導系統。《環球時報》是共產黨機關報紙《人民日報》社主辦的具有民族主義傾向的小型報紙。

'These media people are disgusting,' wrote local IBM executive George Chen. 'They have no professional bottom line.'

國際商業機器公司(IBM)的一位本地經理George Chen寫到，這些媒體人令人厭惡，他們沒有職業底線。

Global Times editor Hu Xijin, writing on Sina Weibo, responded by saying Internet users had taken a 'serious topic' and made a joke of it.

《環球時報》總編胡錫進在新浪微博上回應說，一些互聯網用戶把嚴肅文章搞成了娛樂世界。

Last week, Shanghai and other parts of Eastern coastal China were hit by a bout of pollution, the severity of which is normally seen only in Beijing and other northern areas, with Shanghai's pollution level at one point more than 16 times the limit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets for an average 24-hour period. The smog forced nearly 100 flight cancellations as well as some school closures in the region, with officials calling on factories to close and commuters rushing to stock up on face masks and air purifiers.

上週，上海和其他一些東部沿海地區出現嚴重霧霾，這種程度通常只在北京和其他北方地區纔會出現，上海的污染水平一度比美國國家環境保護局(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)設定的24小時均值限度高16倍。霧霾導致近100個航班取消，迫使該地區一些小學停課，官員們呼籲工廠停產，上班族搶購口罩和空氣淨化器。

China's leaders have acknowledged the country's pollution problem. In an economic reform blueprint released last month, top Communist Party leaders said they would levy taxes on natural-resource use, beef up monitoring, let markets have a greater say in resource prices and make other moves, though they didn't specify timelines.

中國領導人已經意識到中國的污染問題，他們在上個月發佈的經濟改革藍圖中表示，要實行資源有償使用制度，加強監管，使市場在資源定價和其他方面發揮更大的作用，不過他們沒有給出具體的時間表。

The pollution isn't only taking a toll on residents' lungs and sperm--it's also hurting China's image abroad. A survey released in the fall showed the number of tourists to Beijing had fallen roughly 50% in the first three quarters of 2013, due at least in part to the poor air quality.

霧霾天氣不僅會損害居民的健康，還有損中國的對外形象。秋天發佈的一項調查顯示，2013年前三個季度，北京的遊客數量下降近50%，至少部分歸因於空氣質量差。

Amid all the gloom and doom, one Weibo user noted there is at least one serious benefit from the pollution: its spurs consumption the country so badly needs to rebalance its export-driven economy.

在霧霾帶來種種危害之際，一位微博用戶指出，至少有一個領域從中受益：污染能夠刺激消費，這正是中國經濟從出口主導轉向內需拉動所亟需的。

'Smog has increased the consumption of face masks and hospital bills, it promotes the textiles industry and cotton planting, contributing to national GDP,' the user said. 'As the saying goes, distress rejuvenates a nation.'

這位用戶稱，霧霾增加了口罩消費和醫療費用，促進了紡織業和棉花種植，對GDP做出了貢獻。他表示，俗話說，多難興邦。

Both the CCTV essay of the Global Times story have been removed from their respective organizations' websites.

央視和《環球時報》的文章都已從各自的網站上撤下。