![]() The largely peaceful protest in the port city was the latest bout of unrest to hit China as anger over issues such as social inequality and environmental degradation boils over. "We're talking about mostly young, middle-class citizens, and they must have used social media and mobile networks to organise this," he said. ![]() "This (the protests) is about direct opposition to the policies of the local government, the kind of thing they don't want to see elsewhere - it could set an example," said David Bandurski, a researcher at the Hong Kong-based China Media Project.Ī search for the word "Dalian" on Sina's popular Twitter-like Weibo service yielded a message saying the "search results cannot be displayed due to relevant laws, regulations and policies".Īuthorities frequently censor any online content they deem sensitive and a threat to the ruling Communist Party, in a huge system dubbed the Great Firewall of China.īandurski said photos of the protest, which appeared on Weibo before being deleted by censors and re-posted by online users, suggested the agitation was well-coordinated as many of the young protesters wore identical t-shirts. The Chinese-language media, meanwhile, devoted little space to the protests, while online postings were swiftly removed in a sign of official concern that disaffected people elsewhere could be inspired by the successful demonstration. "While the Dalian local government decided to stop and relocate the project, Chinese society has objected to taking their issues to the street," it added. "Some Dalian citizens went to the streets to express their views, however, a move that should not be advocated in China," said the paper, which is owned by Communist party mouthpiece The People's Daily. ![]() Local authorities acted unusually swiftly, promising the "immediate" shutdown of the plant - owned by China's private Fujia Group - and pledging to relocate the factory.īut the comment piece in The Global Times warned this was not the right way for Chinese people to express their complaints. The warning in The Global Times, an English-language daily with close links to the Communist Party, came a day after around 12,000 people demonstrated in the northeastern city of Dalian following fears of a toxic leak at the factory. China paper warns against demos after plant shutsĪn influential Chinese newspaper on Monday urged citizens against taking their grievances to the streets, after thousands forced the closure of a chemical plant they said could belch out carcinogens.
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