China's Toner Capitol Guangdong Opposes New Chemical Plant

[Anonymous]

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.

Protests continued at least through April 3 and spread to Shenzhen and to the provincial capital, Guangzhou. While Maoming officials have promised to allow public input and to scrap the proposed plant if a majority of residents oppose it, the South China Morning Post reports that locals are skeptical. Residents have opposed the Maoming PX plant since 2009, when plans for the plant were announced. Meanwhile, the Guangdong Propaganda Department has requested that provincial websites “take care to delete all calls for protest in Guangdong.”

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 散步), in which protesters simply agree to gather at a particular place and time to walk together.

 

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.

Protests continued at least through April 3 and spread to Shenzhen and to the provincial capital, Guangzhou. While Maoming officials have promised to allow public input and to scrap the proposed plant if a majority of residents oppose it, the South China Morning Post reports that locals are skeptical. Residents have opposed the Maoming PX plant since 2009, when plans for the plant were announced. Meanwhile, the Guangdong Propaganda Department has requested that provincial websites “take care to delete all calls for protest in Guangdong.”

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 散步), in which protesters simply agree to gather at a particular place and time to walk together.

 

[Author]

April 17, 2014 at 10:03 AM