Fujia Chemical Plant Still Operating Despite Protests in Dalian, China

Over ten thousand people protested outside the offices of local authorities in Dalian City, in China’s northeastern Liaoning Province. They are calling for a local chemical plant to be shut down and moved.

Locals suspected a chemical leak at the Fujia Chemical Plant in Dalian, after a dyke that protects the plant from the sea was damaged during the recent typhoon, Muifa.

On Sunday night, local authorities conceded to the crowd’s demands and agreed to shut the plant down. Professor Han Yanyi from Dalian University of Technology says authorities had no choice but to comply.

[Han Yanyi, Professor, Dalian University of Technology]:
“The people had no other method (to get their voice heard), so they were forced to come out on the streets. If there wasn’t this concession, then there may be a second, a third or a fourth protest, and it would be a different situation. Perhaps the authorities would lose control. So considering the people’s mood from the standpoint of authorities, they had to shut the factory down. They wouldn’t dare not to.”

Yet on Monday the plant was apparently operating as normal. They told Reuters news agency they hadn’t received orders from authorities to stop production. Experts suspect the promise to shut the plant down was merely a PR stunt to calm protests.

[Chen Yongmiao, Scholar of Constitutional Government]:
“The promise made by the Dalian City authorities was possibly just to make the people go home. Then late at night, they still used the police force, even transferring extra officers from Shenyang and other places. If it was really like this, then it was just a swindle to coax the people into going home. It possibly wasn’t a true victory of the people, like it was claimed on the Internet. Or a victory of micro-bloggers or the will of the people.”

Two powerful real estate developers, the Fujia and Dahua corporations, own the Fujia Chemical Plant. The Dahua cooperation is a partner of the State Assets Administration Committee and both corporations are among the largest taxpayers in the local area.