The New York Times writes, "Premier Li Keqiang of China said on Sunday that the government was failing to satisfy public demands to stanch pollution and would impose heavier punishments to cut the toxic smog that was the subject of a popular documentary belatedly banned by censors. [He] acknowledged that there was a gap between the government's efforts and public ire about pervasive smog. 'This is a concern that is uppermost on all people's minds...The Chinese government is determined to tackle smog and environmental pollution as a whole," Mr. Li said. 'But the progress we have made still falls far short of the expectation of the people. Last year, I said the Chinese government would declare war against environmental pollution. We're determined to carry forward our efforts until we achieve our goal.'"

According to Reuters, "Deliberation on a controversial Chinese anti-terrorism law is going on and it will be formulated based on national security needs, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday, after a senior U.S. official suggested the legislation had been put on hold. The draft law, which could require technology firms to install 'backdoors' in products or hand over sensitive information such as encryption keys to the government, has been criticized by some Western leaders and business groups. U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview with Reuters on March 2 that he had raised concern about the law directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping...'China will formulate its anti-terrorism law based on its own counter-terrorism needs, and protect national security. This is an important necessity of China's current national development.'"