中国政府环境巡查人员表示，近几个月他们发现了数量惊人的空气污染事件。
A Ministry of Environmental Protection, or MEP, statement says two-thirds of the companies inspected since April violated rules about pollutive gas releases.
中国环保部发表的一份声明称，4月份以来巡查的三分之二的公司违反了污染物排放规定。
The findings raise questions about the ability of the local and central government to deal with polluters.
这一调查结果引发了人们对地方和中央政府处理污染者的能力的质疑。
Inspections
环保巡查
Environmental inspections began last November in reaction to a smog crisis in northern Chinese cities.
为了应对中国北方城市的雾霾危机，中国政府去年十一月开始了环保巡查。
The burning of coal, bad weather conditions and pollutive gas releases from factories may have created the environmental crisis.
煤炭燃烧、恶劣天气条件以及工厂排放的污染气体可能导致了这次环保危机。
Since then, the government has increased the number of inspection teams it deploys.
此后，政府增加了其部署的巡查组的数量。
In March, the MEP said that 3,119 businesses of about 8,500 visited had falsely reported the gas waste they were releasing. In many cases, inspectors found polluters had restarted operations after being ordered to shut down.
3月份，环保部表示，在巡查过的8500家企业中，有3119家虚假报告了它们排放的废气。巡查人员发现在许多情况下，污染者在被责令关闭后重新启动。
Last month, state media reported that 5,594 businesses, or 66.2 percent of those examined by May 2, did not meet environmental requirements. The businesses were in 28 northern cities, across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
上个月，国家媒体报道称，截至5月2日，有5594家企业未能达到环保要求，占到了巡查企业的66.2%。这些企业分布在京津冀地区的28个北部城市中。
The government's Xinhua news agency reported that small businesses and factories made up more than a third of the violators. It said this made enforcement difficult.
新华社报道称，小企业和工厂占到了违规企业的三分之一，这使得执法非常困难。
Some companies would not permit inspections.
一些企业不接受巡查。
In one case on March 12, four law enforcement officers were attacked while investigating illegal production at a textile factory in eastern Anhui province, the MEP said.
环保部称，在3月12日的一起案件中，4名执法人员在调查安徽省东部一家纺织厂非法生产时遭到了攻击。
Central government and local authorities
中央政府和地方当局
The years of enforcement efforts, growing protests over smog and months of warnings about inspections have led to a question: Why do companies continue to violate the rules?
多年的执法工作、对雾霾越来越多的抗议以及数月的巡查警告提出了一个问题：为什么这些企业会继续违反规定？
Some observers say the central government has yet to make air quality a campaign issue.
有观察家表示，中央政府尚未将空气质量作为一项运动议题。
Philip Andrews-Speed is an expert with the Energy Studies Institute of the National University of Singapore. He noted the success of China's five-year energy efficiency campaign that ended in 2010. He says there must be a similar campaign on air quality.
菲利普·安德鲁斯-斯皮德（Philip Andrews-Speed）是新加坡国立大学能源研究所的一名专家。他注意到了2010年结束的中国五年节能运动的成功。他说中国应该对空气质量进行类似运动。
Fines and compliance
罚款和服从
Xinhua has reported conflicting information about enforcement efforts. On May 12, it reported that MEP inspection teams have been ordering fines directly. Weeks later, Xinhua reported the ministry had asked local governments to halt the production of, or close, businesses that violated pollution rules.
新华社报道了执法工作的冲突信息。5月12日，新华社报道称，环保部巡查组已责令直接罚款。几周后新华社报道称，该部门要求地方政府对违反污染规定的企业停产或关闭。
But Andrews-Speed said local officials are unlikely to take such action. He said they have long been rewarded for favoring economic interest over environmental interest. They probably will not enforce the rules unless they believe their jobs are at risk as a result, he said.
但是安德鲁斯-斯皮德表示，地方官员不大可能采取这类行动。他说，地方官员热衷于经济利益而不是环境利益，并长期从中获得了回报。他们可能不会执行这些规定，除非他们认为有丢乌纱帽的风险。
I'm John Russell.
我是约翰·罗素。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)