VZCZCXYZ3549
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGZ #0139 0650842
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050842Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6951
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000139 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, OES/PCI, AND DRL 
EPA FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV PHUM ECON PGOV EINV TW CH
SUBJECT: Background of Recent Fujian Chemical Plant Protests 
 
REF: 07 Guangzhou 1297 and previous 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: Fears that a proposed chemical plant could endanger 
their livelihood spurred approximately 10,000 residents of Dongshan 
Island, Fujian Province, to protest the project, according to media 
reports.  The protests, which began February 29 and culminated in 
the vandalism of local government buildings and clashes with police 
three days later, were possibly timed to coincide with National 
People's Congress (NPC) and National People's Political Consultative 
Conference (NPPCC) meetings in Beijing.  A government-imposed media 
blackout and the deployment of armed police could signal officials' 
growing impatience with grassroots activism.  End Summary. 
 
A Tale of Two Cities 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Confronted by organized protests from residents of Xiamen 
(reftel), the Fujian Provincial Party Committee decided in late 2007 
to move a proposed massive paraxylene (PX) chemical plant to Zhangpu 
County's Gulei Peninsula.  Though peninsula residents will receive 
compensation for the effects of the project, residents of Dongshan 
Island, which is located 10 miles from the peninsula, will not, 
according to the Taiwan-based United Daily News.  The Dongshan 
economy relies heavily on fishing and tourism, and residents are 
concerned that discharges form the PX plant could destroy their 
livelihood. 
 
Media Suppression 
----------------- 
 
¶3. (U) The timing of the protests could have been intended to raise 
awareness of Dongshan residents' plight, considering that Fujian 
provincial leaders were in Beijing to attend the NPC and NPPCC.  The 
United Daily News reported that Fujian authorities had sought to 
mitigate the impact of the protests by imposing a media blackout. 
Post confirmed that nearly all online discussions regarding the 
protests had been removed from the internet, and it appears that no 
domestic media have featured stories about the incident. 
 
Comment: The Future of Environmental Activism? 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (U) Violence and injury not withstanding, the Dongshan protests 
have highlighted the effectiveness of activists in mobilizing broad 
demographics in grassroots environmental-protection campaigns.  If 
the Dongshan protests prove successful, environmental activists 
would doubtless be emboldened, and would likely expand their 
operations.  (A petrochemical plant planned for the Nansha area 
south of Guangzhou has the potential to become the target of such 
protests, though as yet there have been no indications of 
opposition.)  However, the government's use of traditional tactics 
-- including media blackouts and the deployment of baton-wielding 
police -- suggests growing official inflexibility, especially after 
the government's public defeat in Xiamen. 
 
GOLDBERG