Canadian Embassy In Beijing Spent $175,000 In Two Years On High-End Air Filters For Staff
As China’s acrid air exacts a mounting health toll, Canada’s embassy in Beijing is pouring taxpayer dollars into purifying pollution, spending $175,000 in the past two years to buy crates of high-end filters for its staff.
Faced with growing difficulties getting people to Beijing – and keeping them once they arrive – embassy officials are also looking at compensation for workers whose stays in China stand to permanently damage their health.
“It has become a major problem, and unfortunately it will take many years for the situation to improve,” said Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada’s ambassador to China, in an interview Wednesday. The embassy, which has 70 Canadian workers, has seen qualified candidates drop out of competition for jobs after assessing the Chinese air quality. Staff with families in China have also declined to extend their postings “because they are concerned about the pollution,” he said.
Staffing concerns have become an acute problem for foreign companies and countries operating in China, where air quality regularly descends to a level considered hazardous to human health. In Beijing, pollution ranks as the top concern among two-thirds of companies recently surveyed by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. It’s also driving wealthy Chinese outside of the country, as those with the means are ordering family members to flee to places where children don’t risk lifetime consequences from merely breathing.
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