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Qidong NIMBY protesters raid government offices, mob and strip mayor of clothes
Source: Canyu.org, Weibo, Renren
A water discharge project in the pipeline was immediately scrapped after thousands of residents in Qidong, a coastal city in East China, staged a protest amid growing concerns over pollution problems on July 28. Despite that it marks the victory for the public opinion and environmentalists, it is also worth noting that the protest finished on a violent note, with government offices raided by the protesters and the city's party secretary mobbed and stripped of his clothes.
The wastewater discharge project was part of a construction plan of Oji Paper Group, a Japanese-owned paper-making factory based in Nantong, a neighboring city that administers Qidong. The wastewater from the paper mill will be expelled Residents in Qidong fear that if put into use, the wastewater containing contaminants and toxic matters may be dumped into the sea, polluting the area and killing the local fish stock.
In contrast to a similar not-in-my-back-yard protest in Shifang, Sichuan province, earlier this month which featured tear gas and stun grenades, Qidong's local government and its police force have been lauded by netizens for its swift response to the outcry and decision to show restraint.
The protest started off from an online campaign. A series of posters had been circulating on the Chinese social media for days prior to the actual demonstration.
Translation:
Strongly protest Nantong Oji Paper (Japan) for discharging wastewater into Qidong's Lvsi Fishing Port!
On July 1, 2012, you came to know Shifang in Sichuan,
Then you must have heard of Qidong often lately.
If not, let me brief you on Qidong.
If Yangtze River is a dragon, then the tongue sticking out from the dragon's head is Chongming Island;
The lower jaw is Shanghai, and the upper jaw is Qidong, butting on Yellow Sea, East (China) Sea and the Pacific.
In addition to education, construction and electric tool manufacturing that flourishes here,
Lvsi's seafood culture is also a selling point well-known to home and abroad.
Lvsi Fishing Port's annual output of aquatic products is
More than 200000000 kg (200,000 metric tons).
It is the world's ninth largest and one of China's four major fishing ports.
Today, the fishing port, hundreds of thousands in the fishing industry, and the million residents in Qidong, are now faced with a huge crisis.
A pipeline, which discharges 150,000 metric tons of wastewater daily,
Is now extending into the proximity of Lvsi Fishing Port.
The other end of the pipeline is Japan's biggest investment in China, which was previously rejected by Northeast China, South China, Shanghai, Suzhou and Taicang and finally taken over by the inclusive Nantong Municipal Government –
Nantong Oji Paper (Japan) OJI.
The reason why it is singled out for blame is that it is not a chimney sticking out into the sky, but a pipeline reaching into the sea. The most important thing of all is that it will be dumped near Lvsi Fishing Port, and the daily volume is huge. Water cycle is closely related to you and me. What's more, aquatic products from here in Lvsi have been in great demand home and abroad.
Nantong's seaside and riverside environment is already in danger. Now it is hanging by a thread.
If this pipeline goes to Nantong, residents in Nantong will be angry with you; going to Yangtze River, people in Shanghai and Suzhou will be angry with you. "Okay, then make it go to Lvsi Fishing Port. It doesn't matter if you are angry with me. Little Qidong, just suck it up!"
No! The million Qidong people can swallow no insult and suppress no word.
But on July 28, when thousands swarmed to the government building, they overturned five police cars, beat a couple of police officers viciously until they bled, and dragged the city's party secretary Sun Jianhua out of his office into the street, stripped him of his clothes and tried to make him put on a T-shirt specially designed for this campaign.
Source: Canyu.org, Weibo, Renren
A water discharge project in the pipeline was immediately scrapped after thousands of residents in Qidong, a coastal city in East China, staged a protest amid growing concerns over pollution problems on July 28. Despite that it marks the victory for the public opinion and environmentalists, it is also worth noting that the protest finished on a violent note, with government offices raided by the protesters and the city's party secretary mobbed and stripped of his clothes.
The wastewater discharge project was part of a construction plan of Oji Paper Group, a Japanese-owned paper-making factory based in Nantong, a neighboring city that administers Qidong. The wastewater from the paper mill will be expelled Residents in Qidong fear that if put into use, the wastewater containing contaminants and toxic matters may be dumped into the sea, polluting the area and killing the local fish stock.
In contrast to a similar not-in-my-back-yard protest in Shifang, Sichuan province, earlier this month which featured tear gas and stun grenades, Qidong's local government and its police force have been lauded by netizens for its swift response to the outcry and decision to show restraint.
The protest started off from an online campaign. A series of posters had been circulating on the Chinese social media for days prior to the actual demonstration.
Translation:
Strongly protest Nantong Oji Paper (Japan) for discharging wastewater into Qidong's Lvsi Fishing Port!
On July 1, 2012, you came to know Shifang in Sichuan,
Then you must have heard of Qidong often lately.
If not, let me brief you on Qidong.
If Yangtze River is a dragon, then the tongue sticking out from the dragon's head is Chongming Island;
The lower jaw is Shanghai, and the upper jaw is Qidong, butting on Yellow Sea, East (China) Sea and the Pacific.
In addition to education, construction and electric tool manufacturing that flourishes here,
Lvsi's seafood culture is also a selling point well-known to home and abroad.
Lvsi Fishing Port's annual output of aquatic products is
More than 200000000 kg (200,000 metric tons).
It is the world's ninth largest and one of China's four major fishing ports.
Today, the fishing port, hundreds of thousands in the fishing industry, and the million residents in Qidong, are now faced with a huge crisis.
A pipeline, which discharges 150,000 metric tons of wastewater daily,
Is now extending into the proximity of Lvsi Fishing Port.
The other end of the pipeline is Japan's biggest investment in China, which was previously rejected by Northeast China, South China, Shanghai, Suzhou and Taicang and finally taken over by the inclusive Nantong Municipal Government –
Nantong Oji Paper (Japan) OJI.
The reason why it is singled out for blame is that it is not a chimney sticking out into the sky, but a pipeline reaching into the sea. The most important thing of all is that it will be dumped near Lvsi Fishing Port, and the daily volume is huge. Water cycle is closely related to you and me. What's more, aquatic products from here in Lvsi have been in great demand home and abroad.
Nantong's seaside and riverside environment is already in danger. Now it is hanging by a thread.
If this pipeline goes to Nantong, residents in Nantong will be angry with you; going to Yangtze River, people in Shanghai and Suzhou will be angry with you. "Okay, then make it go to Lvsi Fishing Port. It doesn't matter if you are angry with me. Little Qidong, just suck it up!"
No! The million Qidong people can swallow no insult and suppress no word.
But on July 28, when thousands swarmed to the government building, they overturned five police cars, beat a couple of police officers viciously until they bled, and dragged the city's party secretary Sun Jianhua out of his office into the street, stripped him of his clothes and tried to make him put on a T-shirt specially designed for this campaign.
