Ordie
12-10-2007, 01:59 PM
This is a positive step for China and one that I had predicted what might happen.
The improved standard of living and a rising middle class are demanding transparency, and inclusion on development and environmental issues.
Similar to what happened in South Korea and Taiwan.
Chinese City Asks Public's Input on Proposed Factory
Unusual Request, Accompanying Report on Environmental Impact of Chemical Plant, Follows Large Protests
By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 7, 2007; A33
BEIJING, Dec. 6 -- With a rare invitation for public comment, the picturesque seaside city of Xiamen (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Xiamen?tid=informline) has released an environmental impact report for a planned chemical plant that has sparked passionate opposition and large-scale protests.
The report, posted online Wednesday, had generated more than 1,500 comments by Thursday on the official Web site for Xiamen, a city in the southeastern province of Fujian where demonstrations against the project drew national attention in June.
More than 10,000 people, and as many as 20,000, participated in mostly peaceful protests coordinated via cellphone and the Internet, compelling Communist Party bureaucrats to take a rare second look at their plans.
"I don't want to hand in my taxes to those who can't guarantee our health," one person wrote online.
"If the project is going to be built, I strongly suggest that the local standing committee put their offices next to this industrial district," another commented, referring to the Communist Party. "It would not only ease the worries of the public, but also ensure the future protection of Haicang," the island where the project is planned across a narrow strait from downtown.
The 300-acre, $1.4 billion factory is the pet project of the Xiamen Communist Party boss and would nearly double the city's gross domestic product to $26 billion, officials said.
But the factory would make paraxylene, a chemical used in plastics and other synthetic products that over time can cause health problems. Residents, including a chemistry professor who is a member of the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Chinese+Academy+of+Sciences?tid=informline), are worried about leaks, explosions and other potential accidents at the factory, which would be separated from a residential district by a 330-yard-wide, landscaped barrier.
The environmental impact report, prepared by a subsidiary research institute of the State Environmental Protection Administration and a Xiamen urban design environment evaluation team, agreed there is cause for concern.
Putting residential and industrial districts side by side is improper, the report said.
"The 300-meter-wide segregation area is not enough to separate air pollutants. . . . It's inevitable that the residential area will be affected by the industrial district," a 14-page summary of the report says. "The problems show that flaws exist in urban planning, mainly due to the lack of a comprehensive understanding of negative environmental impacts."
But the report says that the risk is acceptable and that any pollution problems would be minor, handing the decision on whether to proceed back to government officials.
"If there is not yet a large-scale residential area, the environmental effect of developing chemical industry in the south of the Haicang district is acceptable," it says.
Li Yi Qiang, a Xiamen resident and environmentalist who was detained for 55 days for participating in the protests, said, "The government may be using this report to test the reaction of the public so that they can decide what to do next."
Li said he hoped that public hearings would follow and predicted that a vocal opposition would be heard. "I think it will be effective. The will of the people can't be violated. Since the government promised that they won't do what ordinary citizens oppose, they have to keep their word."
The public was given 10 days, from Wednesday, to submit opinions. Some reactions are already appearing on popular local online forums such as Xiamen Xiaoyu, which was temporarily shut down in May for hosting heated discussion about the factory.
"I've read the report three times, but I still have many questions," said a participant on Xiamen Xiaoyu, who then listed 10 questions. For example, the writer said, the report says peak concentrations of acetic acid would be lower than the standard of the former Soviet Union (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.S.R.?tid=informline). "But why cite the Soviet Union as a standard? Isn't there any other standard from developed countries that we can refer to? Or are the standards of other countries too strict?"
But another writer urged people to consider the financial benefits.
"Comparing Xiamen with other coastal cities like Shanghai (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Shanghai?tid=informline) and Shenzhen (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Shenzhen?tid=informline), its development is relatively backward. Don't say that economic development is just for the benefit of officials, it will benefit every person in Xiamen."
Source:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR2007120602485_pf.html
The improved standard of living and a rising middle class are demanding transparency, and inclusion on development and environmental issues.
Similar to what happened in South Korea and Taiwan.
Chinese City Asks Public's Input on Proposed Factory
Unusual Request, Accompanying Report on Environmental Impact of Chemical Plant, Follows Large Protests
By Maureen Fan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 7, 2007; A33
BEIJING, Dec. 6 -- With a rare invitation for public comment, the picturesque seaside city of Xiamen (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Xiamen?tid=informline) has released an environmental impact report for a planned chemical plant that has sparked passionate opposition and large-scale protests.
The report, posted online Wednesday, had generated more than 1,500 comments by Thursday on the official Web site for Xiamen, a city in the southeastern province of Fujian where demonstrations against the project drew national attention in June.
More than 10,000 people, and as many as 20,000, participated in mostly peaceful protests coordinated via cellphone and the Internet, compelling Communist Party bureaucrats to take a rare second look at their plans.
"I don't want to hand in my taxes to those who can't guarantee our health," one person wrote online.
"If the project is going to be built, I strongly suggest that the local standing committee put their offices next to this industrial district," another commented, referring to the Communist Party. "It would not only ease the worries of the public, but also ensure the future protection of Haicang," the island where the project is planned across a narrow strait from downtown.
The 300-acre, $1.4 billion factory is the pet project of the Xiamen Communist Party boss and would nearly double the city's gross domestic product to $26 billion, officials said.
But the factory would make paraxylene, a chemical used in plastics and other synthetic products that over time can cause health problems. Residents, including a chemistry professor who is a member of the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Chinese+Academy+of+Sciences?tid=informline), are worried about leaks, explosions and other potential accidents at the factory, which would be separated from a residential district by a 330-yard-wide, landscaped barrier.
The environmental impact report, prepared by a subsidiary research institute of the State Environmental Protection Administration and a Xiamen urban design environment evaluation team, agreed there is cause for concern.
Putting residential and industrial districts side by side is improper, the report said.
"The 300-meter-wide segregation area is not enough to separate air pollutants. . . . It's inevitable that the residential area will be affected by the industrial district," a 14-page summary of the report says. "The problems show that flaws exist in urban planning, mainly due to the lack of a comprehensive understanding of negative environmental impacts."
But the report says that the risk is acceptable and that any pollution problems would be minor, handing the decision on whether to proceed back to government officials.
"If there is not yet a large-scale residential area, the environmental effect of developing chemical industry in the south of the Haicang district is acceptable," it says.
Li Yi Qiang, a Xiamen resident and environmentalist who was detained for 55 days for participating in the protests, said, "The government may be using this report to test the reaction of the public so that they can decide what to do next."
Li said he hoped that public hearings would follow and predicted that a vocal opposition would be heard. "I think it will be effective. The will of the people can't be violated. Since the government promised that they won't do what ordinary citizens oppose, they have to keep their word."
The public was given 10 days, from Wednesday, to submit opinions. Some reactions are already appearing on popular local online forums such as Xiamen Xiaoyu, which was temporarily shut down in May for hosting heated discussion about the factory.
"I've read the report three times, but I still have many questions," said a participant on Xiamen Xiaoyu, who then listed 10 questions. For example, the writer said, the report says peak concentrations of acetic acid would be lower than the standard of the former Soviet Union (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/U.S.S.R.?tid=informline). "But why cite the Soviet Union as a standard? Isn't there any other standard from developed countries that we can refer to? Or are the standards of other countries too strict?"
But another writer urged people to consider the financial benefits.
"Comparing Xiamen with other coastal cities like Shanghai (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Shanghai?tid=informline) and Shenzhen (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Shenzhen?tid=informline), its development is relatively backward. Don't say that economic development is just for the benefit of officials, it will benefit every person in Xiamen."
Source:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/06/AR2007120602485_pf.html