Asia's Next Miracle
	By Michael Elliott

Posted Monday, October 2, 2006; 20:00 HKT
he 60 years that TIME magazine has been publishing an Asian edition have seen the greatest economic miracle that the world has known. More people have been taken out of poverty, faster, than ever before; great cities have grown up where there were once marshlands or rice paddies; world-beating companies have developed in what were, within living memory, nations whose economic prospects were thought to be stunted.

It is an astonishing achievement; but it has come at a terrible cost to Asia's environment. So when we sat down to think of a subject for a Special Issue as part of our program to celebrate our 60th anniversary of first publishing in Asia, the state of the environment seemed a natural topic. Our reporters ranged far and wide, from forgotten Chinese cities running out of water, to their own homes—Indonesia correspondent Jason Tedjasukmana, who reported our story on Asia's trash, says that every morning he finds a new plastic bag, wrapper or bottle on his driveway.

It's easy to think that things can only get worse; Aravind Adiga, who reported and wrote our story on the environmental dystopia of Kanpur, India, says that "population growth, once a national worry, has become India's forgotten issue—but take one look at the congested avenues of Kanpur and try to imagine how the city will look with another million people packed into it." Yet all is not gloom. Bryan Walsh, our Tokyo bureau chief, who has written many of TIME's recent stories on the environment, went to Kitakyushu, a once filthy town that has now been sparklingly cleaned up. Visiting a plant that recycles household appliances, he said, gave him hope that "the incredible economic energy currently on display throughout Asia could one day be bent toward more environmentally friendly goals." William Green, TIME's Asia editor, who indefatigably masterminded the complicated project, says: "It was important for us not to give readers a sense that there's nothing that can be done to fix these problems." The key, Green suggests, is to make Asians appreciate that they have no choice; if they don't start cleaning the environment up today, they'll pay a price tomorrow. Thankfully, that message is getting through to a new generation of Asians.

I hope that you agree that we've chosen the right subject for a 60th Anniversary issue, and find plenty in it to stimulate and inform. I'm grateful to all the reporters, writers, editors, designers, picture editors, photographers and researchers who helped produce this magazine, and hence underlined the vital importance of the environment to Asia's future. There's no need to despair. As Walsh says: "It often seems as if it would take a miracle to save the region's environment. But it wouldn't be Asia's first."

Michael Elliott, Editor, TIME International

	Learning to Fly Green [Sep. 25, 2006] Air travel can be an environmentally dirty business. A couple tips on making it cleaner Dangerous Dive [Jul. 10, 2006] The perils and politics of swimming in China's Pearl River Still Losing a Harbor [Jun. 19, 2006] Hong Kong has a rare opportunity to fix its unwelcoming waterfront. Think it will take it? China's Toxic Shock [Nov. 27, 2005] A huge chemical spill shuts down a city's water--and another clumsy official cover-up is exposed The Middle Landfill [Nov. 17, 2003] China's economy vs. its environment More Related Items | Search all issues of TIME Magazine