Chinese Journalist Gets Stonewalled After Asking Epic, Emotional Question About Air Pollution

At a meeting of the Beijing delegates during China's National People's Congress, a journalist asked a question about air pollution that lasted over 3-minute mark, and saw her almost break down in tears numerous times.

The delegates response? Nothing at all.

Liz Carter, an active China watcher who tweets at @withoutdoing, put subtitles on a video of the confrontation. We've embedded below.

Beijing and over large Chinese cities have recently been hit with serious smog problems, which have been declared "hazardous" by air monitors. Online, many Chinese netizens have been criticizing the government for doing too little to stem the problems — Carter says the video has been trending on Weibo today.

Air quality is just one of many areas where Chinese citizens accuse their government of favoring progress over the environment. Recently one Chinese entrepreneur offered an official $32,000 to swim in a polluted river for 20 minutes.