Chinese Towers in the News for Reducing Smog, Posing Security Threats

Two Chinese towers have been in the news recently, for very different reasons. On the more positive tip, a 100-meter-tall structure in the central Chinese city of Xi’an, which was built for the purpose of reducing pollution, has begun showing positive results, according to the leading scientist on the project. SCMP reports:

The head of the research, Cao Junji, said improvements in air quality had been observed over an area of 10 square kilometres (3.86 square miles) in the city over the past few months and the tower has managed to produce more than 10 million cubic metres (353 million cubic feet) of clean air a day since its launch. Cao added that on severely polluted days the tower was able to reduce smog close to moderate levels.

Neat!

In less savory tower news, the Wall Street Journal yesterday published an eyebrow-raising report about the relationship between Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Wendi Deng Murdoch, a Chinese-American businesswoman who was formerly married to media magnate Rupert Murdoch. The story was interesting for several reasons, but the only bit directly relevant to towers is this:

U.S. officials have also had concerns about a counterintelligence assessment that Ms. Murdoch was lobbying for a high-profile construction project funded by the Chinese government in Washington, D.C., one of these people said.

The project, a planned $100 million Chinese garden at the National Arboretum, was deemed a national-security risk because it included a 70-foot-tall white tower that could potentially be used for surveillance, according to people familiar with the intelligence community’s deliberations over the garden. The garden was planned on one of the higher patches of land near downtown Washington, less than 5 miles from both the Capitol and the White House.

This adequately sums up our thoughts on the matter:

Ok…in order of “hold on-waits…”
* WSJ- owned by Trump ally Rupert Murdoch breaks this
* Wendy Murdoch- ex-wife of R Murduch & close friend of Ivanka could be working for the Chinese & using her influence om them
* giant tower that could be used for surveillance#holdonwait https://t.co/s3svEahybI

— Stephanie Ruhle (@SRuhle) January 16, 2018

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2128355/china-builds-worlds-biggest-air-purifier-and-it-seems-be-working