Public security ministry details action on environmental crimes

Police in China investigated 22,500 instances of damage to environmental and natural resources in the first seven months of this year, detaining 35,600 suspects, the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday.

The figures were released ahead of China's fourth National Ecology Day, which falls on Saturday.

The ministry also published four typical cases involving environmental and natural resource crimes, covering offenses including falsification of atmospheric dust-monitoring data, illegal mining, and crimes involving rare and endangered wildlife.

In one case in January, Shanghai police arrested 19 people in relation to the illegal manipulation of online dust-monitoring data.

Investigators concluded that from 2021 until the case was uncovered, employees from nine companies involved in producing and maintaining online dust-monitoring equipment, including a Shanghai-based environmental technology company, colluded with personnel from third-party testing and certification agencies.

They allegedly modified key parameters, including dust concentration readings, on more than 2,500 monitoring devices installed at construction sites, ports, storage yards and concrete mixing plants in Shanghai.

The manipulation resulted in distorted monitoring data, seriously interfering with environmental monitoring and efforts to protect air quality, according to the ministry. Files on 11 principal suspects have been transferred to procuratorates for review and prosecution.

In another case, police in Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, arrested six suspects in October last year for allegedly illegally hunting and trading wild birds.

Investigations found that from 2023 until the case was uncovered, a suspect surnamed Wang and others allegedly hunted 49 nationally protected birds, including Mongolian larks and Eurasian skylarks, in prohibited areas or during closed seasons for profit.

They also illegally purchased 165 Chinese hwamei birds, a national second-class protected animal, and sold them online, the ministry said.

Wang and other suspects have been transferred to procuratorates for review and prosecution.

The ministry said public security authorities will continue to uphold the strictest systems and the rule of law in protecting the natural environment and natural resources.