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Det är Kinas vice miljöminister Pan Yue av alla människor som säger att det Kinesiska miraklet tar snart slut. Enligt honom är miljökostnaderna för stora för att Kina ska kunna fortsätta i samma takt så många år till.

Ett utdrag från "Interview with China's Deputy Minister of the Environment: "The Chinese Miracle Will End Soon" - Spiegel Online".

SPIEGEL: How great are the effects of this environmental degradation on the economy?

Pan: It's massive. Because air and water are polluted, we are losing between 8 and 15 percent of our gross domestic product. And that doesn't include the costs for health. Then there's the human suffering: In Bejing alone, 70 to 80 percent of all deadly cancer cases are related to the environment. Lung cancer has emerged as the No. 1 cause of death.

Fler miljöpolitiker skulle behöva uttrycka sig så klart som Pan Yue. Hoppas att han har framgång i sitt arbete, både för Kinas framtid och världens. Vi tar ett utdrag till.

SPIEGEL: China is dazzling the world with its booming economy, which grew by 9.5 percent. Aren't you pleased with this speed of growth?

Pan: Of course I am pleased with the success of China's economy. But at the same time I am worried. We are using too many raw materials to sustain this growth. To produce goods worth $10,000, for example, we need seven times more resources than Japan, nearly six times more than the United States and, perhaps most embarrassing, nearly three times more than India. Things can't, nor should they be allowed to go on like that.

Jag fick reda på detta via WorldChanging "This Miracle Will End Soon". WorldChanging länkar till en engelsk översättning av en kinesisk intervju med Pan Yue och tydligen är han lika rakt på sak där.