Chemical plant shut after 12,000 Chinese 'stroll' to protest dangers

Authorities in north-eastern China ordered a petrochemical plant to be shut down immediately yesterday after thousands of protesters demanded the relocation of the factory, which is at the centre of a toxic spill scare.

About 12,000 demonstrators in the port city of Dalian, in Liaoning province, faced down a wall of riot police in front of the municipal government office, according to eyewitnesses.

The authorities also pledged to relocate the Fujia Chemical Plant, state news agency Xinhua said, citing a statement from the municipal committee of the Communist Party and the government. The report did not say where the plant was likely to move to.

Residents in Dalian were forced to flee last Monday when a storm battering the Chinese coast whipped up waves that burst through a dyke protecting the Fujia plant, which makes paraxylene (PX), a toxic petrochemical used in the manufacture of polyester.

Although authorities repaired the dyke and insisted that no spills were detected, the incident sparked panic that PX could have been released, fuelling resentment against the project.

Calls on popular microblogging site Weibo and QQ, an instant messaging system, urged residents to protest yesterday.

The outpouring of public anger is emblematic of the rising discontent facing Chinese leaders, who are obsessed with maintaining stability and struggling to balance growth with growing public anger over environmental threats and safety concerns, especially in the aftermath of the deadly high-speed train crash in late July that killed 40 people.

In a rare concession, Dalian's Communist Party chief, Tang Jun, and mayor Li Wancai yesterday "tried to appease the crowd by promising to move the polluting project out of the city", Xinhua said.

But protesters demanded a clear timetable for moving the plant, with some refusing to move until one is established, Xinhua said, in an unusually frank report.

Protesters including children marched holding banners that declared: "I love Dalian and reject poison", "get out PX", "protect Dalian", and "Return my future generations' beautiful home", according to eyewitness accounts.

Photographs posted on Weibo showed a person in a gas mask wearing a T-shirt that said: "Brother wants to live a few more years."

Xinhua said protesters threw bottles of mineral water at police who tried to cordon off the main road that passes near the square, but relented after police backed down.

A Dalian resident said: "A poster was put on the internet yesterday calling people to 'stroll' on Sunday morning starting from 10am on the People's Square, near which the Dalian government is located.

"We know that the typhoon caused some leak of poisonous chemicals from the PX project and we are all worrying about it, because it is a threat to our life. We hope that such a 'stroll' may push the government to do something as soon as possible to dispel our worries."Group "strolls" have become one way for Chinese to show discontent with the government.

Dalian, home to China's aircraft carrier and with about six million residents, is the second-biggest city in Liaoning. The province recently suffered an oil spill from two offshore platforms that hurt tourism and aquatic farming businesses.

Environmental worries in China have stoked calls for expanded rights for citizens in the one-party state, but this protest has extended it to calls for more government accountability.

Chinese authorities, who are quick to suppress dissent, blocked searches on Weibo for "PX", "Dalian", and "Dalian protests". Search results for these terms showed pages that said "according to relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results are not displayed".