*Cough* Can’t.. *Cough* Stop.. *Cough* Tweeting..

China is bent out of shape that the US embassy in Beijing keeps an hourly twitter update about the poor air quality in the city. They have formally requested that the US knock that stuff off.

From Yahoo here:

China told foreign embassies Tuesday to stop publishing their own reports on air quality in the country, escalating its objections to a popular U.S. Embassy Twitter feed that tracks pollution in smoggy Beijing.

Only the Chinese government is authorized to monitor and publish air quality information and data from other sources may not be standardized or rigorous.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. had no plans to stop providing the service.
“You know, air pollution, quite frankly, is a problem in many cities and regions in China,” he told a news briefing.

The air quality readings are rated according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard that is more stringent than the one used by the Chinese government.

The twitter feed, boring as it may be is located here.