Reported ‘Success’ of Protests at China’s Dalian Petrochemical Plant In Question

Responding to online calls to “take a walk” in the public square, tens of thousands in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, came out on Sunday, Aug. 14, to demand that authorities shut down Fujia Dahua Petrochemical Company because of toxic chemical leaks.
Reported ‘Success’ of Protests at China’s Dalian Petrochemical Plant In Question
Thousands of Chinese people protest demanding that the Fujia chemical plant be moved over pollution fears with banners saying 'Give back generations of homeland of Dalian' in Dalian, on August 14. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
8/18/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

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Information about police violence during the recent mass protest in Dalian over toxic chemical pollution is coming to light. Despite the positive press the incident has received, riot police from out-of-town savagely beat students, leaving pools of blood on the ground, witnesses said. The protest is said to have been the largest in northern China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests.

Responding to online calls to “take a walk” in the public square, tens of thousands in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, came out on Sunday, Aug. 14, to demand that authorities shut down Fujia Dahua Petrochemical Company because of toxic chemical leaks.

It started out almost like a mass family outing: people took their young children and elderly parents along to participate in the protest walk. Many carried high-quality banners and displayed messages on t-shirts.

Riot-police surrounded the square soon after the crowd grew, but they showed restraint.

Hong Kong’s Apple Daily published a photo of a middle-aged woman wiping the sweat from a young riot-policeman’s forehead while saying, “Kid, don’t worry, we won’t cause you any trouble.”

Photos and messages were posted on microblogs and Internet forums, although they were deleted almost as fast as they went up.

Tang Jun, the new Party Secretary of Dalian, came out and reassured people that the plant would be relocated, but didn’t say when.

Tang replaced Xia Deren, who was promoted to deputy Party Secretary of Liaoning Province less than a month ago. Xia had approved the Fujia Dahua Petrochemical Company to operate in Dalian, and has been the main target of people’s anger.

But things took a turn after a dozen or so busloads of riot police arrived from another city. An eye witness told Voice of America (VOA) that they were dispatched on orders of Xia, the governor of Liaoning Province.

These police started beating unarmed protesters, leaving pools of blood on the pavement. Many people were injured and arrested.

A video posted to YouTube showed a young woman crying and saying that there was a lot of blood, and those who were beaten were all students.

An article with photos was posted to Boxun, an overseas dissident website, saying that he saw a young man in a hospital with his face badly beaten and blood stains all over his clothes. The person who had carried him to the hospital said the riot police had stopped the man and beaten him.

Another eyewitness told VOA that police fired tear gas and used pepper spray and batons.

“Over 20 students were seriously injured. In the end, the local police almost clashed with the out-of-town police, and they were on the brink of starting a gun fight,” he said.
Next...Fighting for a Safe Environment

Fighting for a Safe Environment

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/121125798china2.jpg" alt="Thousands of Chinese people protest demanding that the Fujia chemical plant be moved over pollution fears with banners saying 'Give back generations of homeland of Dalian' in Dalian, on August 14. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Thousands of Chinese people protest demanding that the Fujia chemical plant be moved over pollution fears with banners saying 'Give back generations of homeland of Dalian' in Dalian, on August 14. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1799160"/></a>
Thousands of Chinese people protest demanding that the Fujia chemical plant be moved over pollution fears with banners saying 'Give back generations of homeland of Dalian' in Dalian, on August 14. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Fears over a toxic chemical spill had thousands of Dalian residents scrambling to leave town on Aug. 8, when typhoon Muifa hit the shores and waves breached the dike and flooded the Fujia Dahua Petrochemical plant.

Fujia contributes more than US$300 million in taxes a year to the local government.

The company has been producing 700,000 tons of paraxylene (PX) per year. PX, which is used in polyester fibers and is extremely toxic to humans.

In a recent article, He Qinglian, a prominent Chinese economist and writer living in the U.S., said in recent years PX projects have been promoted and developed in China at a great pace, making China the world’s largest production base for PX.

According to information published by several sources, including the National Development and Reform Commission, state media Xinhua, and different local governments, 13 similar PX projects have already been established across China, with many of them near residential areas.

He said most of these chemical companies are top contributors to local governments, both in taxes and GDP. They often create a huge profit chain that brings more jobs and help boost local officials’ performance rating. Therefore, local governments often turn a blind eye to environmental safety issues.

Fujia was allowed to begin PX production 10 months before being approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, according to Chinese media.

Local resident Mr. Chou Jie told Sound of Hope Radio, “Pollution from the plant affects every resident in Dalian, and that is why so many people took to the streets.”

Ms. Wang, who works in the finance sector in Dalian, told VOA: “Now everyone realizes that environmental safety is important. No one knows when the chemical plant will cause problems. Can you imagine how people in Dalian feel about this?”

On Monday, despite the Party Secretary’s orders to shut down, Fujia continued its operation in Dalian, Reuters reported on Aug. 15.

“Some Dalian citizens took to the streets to express their views,” the state mouthpiece Global Times said in a stern warning on Aug. 15. According to the newspaper, that is “a move that should not be advocated in China.”

Read the original Chinese article

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