> 2 - Environment - China for the most part has let enforcement of environment law (the law does exist) take a back seat to capturing business. Covering the cost of protecting environment damage raises costs.
AFAIK, there are government officials and positions that care about this and try to do their job, but for example, when polluting factories are due for inspection they stop polluting long enough to pass inspection (even surprise inspections). Obviously there are other elements in the government that are subverting the process (or that just view the process as a PR campaign with the people, not really caring about the results).
I can see this being the case. One thing people miss while they are bashing the China gov about corruption and oppression is that a great deal of the "bad behavior" in China is caused by business leaders (small and large), not government. There exist fairly good laws protecting worker rights. Unfortunately, if an employer wants to be abusive, they will and its up to the employee to decide how or if they want to fight it.
AFAIK, there are government officials and positions that care about this and try to do their job, but for example, when polluting factories are due for inspection they stop polluting long enough to pass inspection (even surprise inspections). Obviously there are other elements in the government that are subverting the process (or that just view the process as a PR campaign with the people, not really caring about the results).