After three days of protests bythousands of citizens over pollution fears, a local Chinese government relentedand agreed that a petrochemical factory would not be expanded, only to see theprotests persist.
The standoff in the prosperous city ofNingbo has highlighted the deep mistrust between people and the government inChina. Should they last longer, the demonstrations would upset an atmosphere ofcalm that Chinese leaders want for a transfer of power in the Communist Partyleadership next month.
The protest, which started sporadicallylast week, swelled over the weekend and led to clashes between citizens andpolice. The Ningbo city government announced Sunday evening that they and theproject's investor — the state-owned petrochemical behemoth Sinopec — had"resolutely" agreed not to go ahead with the expansion.
Outside the government offices wherecrowds of protesters stayed, an official tried to read the statement on aloudspeaker but was drowned out by shouts demanding the mayor step down. On thethird attempt, the crowd briefly cheered but then turned back to demanding thatauthorities release protesters detained earlier and believed to be held inside.Though the crowd dissipated late Sunday, about 200 people returned againMonday morning.
"There is very little public confidencein the government," 24-year-old protester Liu Li said Sunday."Who knows if they are saying this just to make us leave and then keep ondoing the project."
Protesters returned again Mondaymorning, though the crowd was smaller, about 200 people, and wascomprised mainly of older people. Police channeled the protesters away from thefront of the modest government building off to a side street, and plainclothesofficers mingled in the crowd.
The city government was likely undergreat pressure to defuse the protest with China's leadership wanting calm forthe party congress that starts Nov. 8. It was unclear whether local authoritieswill ultimately cancel the petrochemical project or continue it when thepressure is lower.
Hundreds of people outside thegovernment offices refused to budge despite being urged to leave by officials.Riot police with helmets and shields came out of the government compound andpushed the crowd back. Some people including families ran away. Police draggedsix men and one woman into the compound, beating and kicking at least three ofthem. Police also smashed placards and took away flags.
The crowd roared for the protesters'release. Police also briefly detained a correspondent from the Britishtelevision network ITN.
The demonstration in wealthy Zhejiangprovince is the latest this year over fears of health risks and decliningproperty values from industrial projects, as Chinese who have seen their livingstandards improve become more outspoken against environmentally risky projectsin their areas. A senior adviser to the Environment Ministry told legislatorson Friday that the number of protests over environmental issues has increasednearly 30 percent a year for the past 15 years and that theyhad been getting larger, according to state media.
"The government hides information fromthe people. They are only interested in scoring political points and makingmoney," said one protester, Luo Luan. "They don't care aboutdestroying the environment or damaging people's lives."
The protests began a few days earlier inthe coastal district of Zhenhai, site of the Sinopec Zhenhai Refining &Chemical Co. factory, which state media has described as an $8.9 billion complex toproduce oil and ethylene. On Saturday they swelled and spread to the center ofNingbo city, whose officials oversee Zhenhai.
Residents reported that Saturday'sprotests involved thousands of people and turned violent after authorities usedtear gas and arrested participants.
Authorities said "a few"people disrupted public order by staging sit-ins, unfurling banners,distributing fliers and obstructing roads.
Early Sunday, thousands of residentsbegan gathering outside the offices of the municipal government. Hundredsmarched away from the offices in an apparent effort to round up more supportalong nearby shopping streets. Police diverted traffic to allow them to passdown a main road.
The crowds in Ningbo are a slice ofChina's rising middle class that poses an increasingly boisterous challenge tothe country's incoming leadership: Armed with expensive smartphones, Internetconnectivity and higher expectations than the generations before them, theirimpatience with the government's customary lack of response is palpable.
A 30-year-old woman surnamed Wang saidofficers took her to a police station Saturday and made her sign a guaranteethat she would not participate in any more protests, but she came back Sundayanyway.
"They won't even let us sing the nationalanthem," Wang said. "They kept asking me who the leader of theprotests was and I said that this is all voluntary. We have no leader."
In a sign that censors were at work, thename "Zhenhai" was blocked on China's popular microblogging site SinaWeibo.
Protester Yu Yibing said he wanted thefactory to be closed and his 7-year-old son to grow up in a clean environment.
"As the common people, we need to live ina green environment. This is a reasonable request," Yu said. "But thegovernment only puts out some statement and refuses to see us and also suppressesus. I don't know how else we can express our views."
The Zhenhai district government said ina short statement on its website Sunday evening that the project wouldn't goahead and that refining at the factory would stop for the time being while ascientific review is conducted.
Past environmental protests havetargeted a waste-water pipeline in eastern China and a copper plant inwest-central China. A week ago, hundreds protested for several days in a smalltown on China's Hainan island over a coal-fired power plant.