Protests on the Rise in China as Dongzhou Marks Bloodshed

By RADIO FREE ASIA
December 07, 2007

When Chinese security forces opened fire on local protesters in the southern township of Dongzhou two years ago, the world suddenly took notice as never before of China's surging rural unrest.

Now, as Dongzhou remembers its dead--the official tally is three--reports of similar rural protests over land acquisition by local government, among other grievances, are surfacing several times a week. Meanwhile, life-threatening pollution problems and unpaid wages are likely to send China's urbanites out onto the streets.

Mass protests in the southeastern port city of Xiamen earlier this year persuaded local officials to beat a strategic retreat on plans to build a paraxylene (PX) plant in the city for a while.

But residents are planning a new series of demonstrations as news has emerged that the government is once more pushing the proposal to the fore.

The municipal government held a news conference Wednesday saying that an environmental impact assessment into the proposed plant had already been completed, along with public consultation lasting 10 days.

Opposition to chemical plant

Online forums saw calls for further mass demonstrations in the form of a "collective walk" beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday morning outside the municipal library, and walking to the city government offices to show the level of opposition to the plans.

One Xiamen resident told RFA's Cantonese service that no formal notification had been sent out of a demonstration, but that he would definitely attend if other people did.

"I would definitely go on a protest. We are all very concerned about this issue. This project would have an effect on the citizens of Xiamen if it were ever built. We are dead against such a thing." He said he believed such projects should be built away from major population centers.

Another Xiamen resident agreed: "In another 10 days, the government will announce whether or not this project will go ahead. The environmental assessment came out yesterday. Now they are running a consultation to hear the opinions of ordinary citizens."

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