MCLC: environmental activism

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: environmental activism
***********************************************************

Source: The Guardian (8/21/12):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/aug/21/environment-activists-chi
na-pollution-protest

Environmental activism gains a foothold in ChinaProtesters have pushed
green issues on to the state agenda, despite a predictably heavy-handed
response
By Harold Thibault 

Li Wei, 18 (not her real name), doesn't seem like a dissident. She is more
focused on her accounting studies, her friends on the social networks and
chatting with her sister. Nevertheless, she took part in a demonstration
last month in front of the Chinese Communist party offices that
degenerated into violent clashes with police.

The demonstrators gathered at dawn in Qidong, a small coastal town north
of Shanghai. By noon, the local government headquarters were occupied and
files were being thrown out of the windows. In the heat of the moment the
party secretary's shirt was ripped off. "We have to get mobilised to
protect the environment, it's our home town," explained Li, from her
parents' restaurant.

Protests against pollution have multiplied in China as people become
better informed and more concerned about the heavy ecological cost of
economic development. Even state media now stresses the environment is a
priority for China. Young people use micro-blogging to pass on the word.
"People understand that the fight against pollution is a personal right,
for there are very few places in the world where industrialisation has had
such a massive and direct impact on such a large number of people," said
environmental activist Ma Jun.

Earlier this summer there were student-led protests against a copper alloy
plant in Shifang, central Sichuan province. The local authorities quickly
scrapped the project. In August 2011 a similar protest broke out in the
industrial port of Dalian in the north-east, which mobilised 12,000
people. The authorities gave way there too.

In Qidong, locals were protesting against plans by a Japanese-owned paper
mill to build a wastewater pipeline close to a small port. "Many people
earn a living from fishing here. That project jeopardised their
livelihoods," said Li. She had learned about it on an internet forum and
felt she had to do something. "Protecting the environment is our
generation's responsibility, we have a better understanding about these
issues."

Oji, the plant's owners, had stated that the waste would be treated before
being discharged into the sea but the locals are sceptical, convinced that
they are not being told the truth about the extent of the pollution – let
alone the outcome of the demonstrations. The local hospital reported that
a dozen people were treated for light wounds, but rumours say that three
people were killed in the clashes.

The government is concerned by these demonstrations. An editorial in the
People's Daily <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/>, the communist party
organ, stated that "the public is rapidly becoming aware of environmental
issues and its rights", and went on to accuse local governments of failing
to consult the people in such cases, but without suggesting any real
alternatives.

According to Yang Guobin, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania
who researches environmental activism
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/activism>, the government's
response was typical of the Chinese leadership in President Hu Jintao's
era. "The government's response is typical of their 'wei wen' approach
[the policy of maintaining stability at all costs] and stopping any
widescale demonstrations, by force if necessary. But should state coercion
fail, the government will immediately make some concessions to prevent the
movement from escalating. In all cases, it acts fast," summed up Yang.

Li Wei regrets that the protest degenerated. "It went too far, the local
government offices suffered a great deal of damage. That's a waste,
because the government's money is the people's money."

But it was difficult for people to co-ordinate better. Official requests
to hold the protest were turned down and the only environmental NGOs
countenanced by the government are tolerated precisely because they steer
clear of any confrontation. "In future we will have to find a mechanism
for consultation between the various parties concerned prior to any new
industrial project," said Ma, the environmental activist.

At the crossroads in the centre of Qidong, news of the people's victory
was splashed across a massive advertising screen, where the government
statement announced that the wastewater project was to be abandoned.
Nevertheless, the government bussed in anti-riot police from around the
province, just in case.
Thousands of blue-uniformed police were stationed in the city while the
khaki-clad armed police units in helmets and wielding truncheons, blocked
all the streets in the centre. For Li, who had never taken part in a
demonstration before, this was a reality check. Not because of the local
police intervention – she heard Qidong police slipping in the occasional
"jia you!" (go on!), an expression more commonly used to encourage
athletes – but the ensuing state repression.

"They pulled us by the hair. They slapped one girl in the face," she
exclaimed, before switching to English: "I really wanted to say to them,
'Fuck you!'"

This article originally appeared in Le Monde <http://www.lemonde.fr/>