"China Blocks Smog Data After Failing to Clean Skies Before APEC"

"After failing to rid Beijing’s skies of pollution before a gathering of world leaders this week, Chinese officials took a different approach to smog control -- limit the data.

Phone and Internet apps that display readings of air pollution started excluding a U.S. Embassy feed yesterday. Wang Jun, co-founder of the Air Quality Index app for Apple Inc.’s iOS, said authorities told him to stick to the city’s data. 'We had no choice,' he said by phone.

Government efforts to control smog ahead of the Nov. 5-11 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation events in Beijing had gained so much attention that the clearer skies got a nickname, 'APEC blue.' President Xi Jinping mentioned the phrase when he spoke before other APEC leaders yesterday, saying he had checked the pollution each morning the last few days in hopes the smog wouldn’t be too bad."

Bloomberg News had the story November 11, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Embassy Beijing Air Quality Monitor

Source: Bloomberg, 11/11/2014