Japan will give China 793 million yen (6.82 million dollars) to set up a system to monitor acid rain and yellow sand in China, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Saturday. He announced the grant during talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing. Aso was visiting Cebu for a regional summit which was cancelled because of what organisers said was a threat from a typhoon. He said Japan was extremely concerned about regional environmental issues.
"This really is a serious matter. Japan has been contacting China about setting up these systems for a while," Aso told reporters after the talks.
The grant, which the Japanese government will officially approve on December 15, will help set up monitoring systems at 50 locations in China.
The Japanese environment ministry is leading the effort to promote the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia, which collects data to fight air pollution and acid rain.
Japan has been expressing concern about sand and dust storms — so-called "yellow sand" — blowing from China.
Researchers say the size and frequency of such storms has been increasing due in part to deforestation, desertification and other environmental problems in China.
Li welcomed the initiative. "We appreciate Japan's keen interest in environmental concerns," he told Aso, according to a Japanese diplomat who attended their talks.
Source: Agence France-Presse
