China's Toner Capitol Guangdong Opposes New Chemical Plant 'Taking a Walk' To Protest Chemical Plant In Guangdong
Hundreds of residents of Maoming, a city in the southeastern province of Guangdong, took to the streets on March 30 to protest the construction of a paraxylene (PX) processing plant. PX is used in the manufacture of plastics, and has for years been the target of not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) protests in China. Maoming turned violent — protesters claim that several people were killed by the police — a charge which the authorities deny, though they have conceded that some protesters were “accidentally” injured.
PX plants have stoked protest since 2007, when residents kept out a plant slated for construction in the coastal city of Xiamen. To date, PX protests have occurred in Dalian, Ningbo, Kunming, and Chengdu. The “Xiamen model” also created a new form of protest, “taking a walk” (sanbu æ•£æ¥), in which protesters simply agree to gather at a particular place and time to walk together.