On the China Blog – TIME, Simon Elegant wrote:
Word from Xiamen is that the authorities are now cracking down in the wake of the demonstrations last week protesting against the plan to build a chemical plant in the city. They say there are posters up in all neighborhood comittee walls and elsewhere are calling for anyone who was in the march to turn themselves in, with the incentive being that if you turn yourself in we will be lenient, if we find you later……watch out!
As blogger Wang Xiaofeng says in a post on the subject, “È¢ÜÂغÂæàÁîüÊ∞îÔºåÂêéÊûúÂæà‰∏•Èáç” or “when the leaders get angry (and as he says, they have really lost massive amounts of face on this issue), the result will be very serious.” About as serious as a heart attack for some unfortunates. [Full Text]
Of course it is not just the “leaders getting angry” at citizens, citizens are also angry at leaders. Evidence? Yesterday the news portal Netease had a headline: “The Director of The Bureau of Environmental Protection of Xiamen said there is no strong poison and carcinogen problem in PX project” (Âé¶Èó®Áé؉øù±ÄÈïøÔºöPXÈ°πÁõƉ∏çÂ≠òÂú®ÂâßÊØíÂíåËá¥ÁôåÈóÆÈ¢ò ) Underneath this news there are 1920 comments from netizens, almost each of which expresses criticism and disbelief. Here are some samples, translated by CDT:
* Not poisonous? Would the dear leader take a sip yourself, please?
* PX = Poison Xiamen
* The Director should live in Haicang himself, and have a taste of the air from the chemical factory.
* After the project, he might be made Minister. Of course the project is not poisonous for his career.
To see all the comments in Chinese, click here. Will these angry voices be heard by leaders? More importantly, will this have “serious result” to those leaders, or, these voices will only angry leaders more?
