In Xiamen, leaders are now “getting angry.” Blogger Jessica reported on her Missives from the Middle Kingdom blog:
Residents of the wealthy coastal city of Xiamen turned out on June 1st and 2nd to protest the proposed construction of a petrochemical plant. Cellphone text messages circulated for days before the protest. Having thrown a bone to the protesters by saying that it would consider pulling the project, the government appears to be cracking down now. But one man has already caught the brunt.
Xiamen mayor Liu Cigui told reporters: “There are some people who have taken advantage of the people’s attention to environmental issues, attention to this project, and taken inappropriate and even illegal actions.” [Full Text]
Photo source: Cloudswanderer on Flickr.
Also from Reuters, John Ruwitch reports: Xiamen mayor says street protests “inappropriate”
The mayor of a major Chinese city that has been rocked by protests against a proposed petrochemical plant said on Wednesday recent street marches were “inappropriate” and some people had acted illegally.
Xiamen mayor Liu Cigui said the city government would consider scrapping plans for the Taiwan-invested plant to make paraxylene (PX), a petrochemical that goes into polyester and fabrics, if an impact study recommended against it.
Angry residents had denounced the project as an “atomic bomb” threatening the scenic seaside environment, and they claimed to have circulated nearly a million mobile phone text messages urging families and friends to protest against the plant.
A week ago, the city in the wealthy eastern province of Fujian announced it was suspending construction and would do another environmental assessment of the project. [Full Text]
Read also: The green revolt of Xiamen shocks Chinese government on Rue89.
The Chinese government has reaffirmed just this week that it would in no way sacrifice its economic development for greater environmental protection. Nevertheless, at the same time, China is in the midst of its first popular “green” revolt.
The following video on YouTube documented part of this “green” revolt, June, 2007.
