Chinese find new ways to protest

People have a knack of finding ways around oppressive laws and repression of free speech. Some new and unusual methods are being used in China.

On 4 May in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, a group chose to “stroll” to express their opposition to a proposed new petrochemical project.

Article 35 of the Constitution of People’s Republic of China gives Chinese citizens rights of assembly and demonstration. In theory this allows locals to express their opinions in public. However, demonstrations, protests or marches require approval by local authorities; without a permit any protest gathering is illegal.

And so like a growing number of community members across China, 200 Chengdu farmers and residents said they were merely “strolling”, not demonstrating or marching, in order to legally express their opinions in public.

Even so, the China Digital Times reported some who attended the demonstration were arrested. Others who posted Internet articles about the protest were also arrested, including Wu Xin who was held “for spreading rumours and instigating unrest through the Internet”.

Reporting of the incident has also been censored. Beijing-based lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan described the event on his blog on Sina.com, but the article was removed. It has since been replicated by China Digital Times.

Local farmers say they have been dispossessed of their land in order to make way for the ethylene plant, to be built by the Pengzhou Petrochemical company, and a new proposed oil refinery. They say they were not properly compensated. Residents are also concerned about the potential pollution from continued development of petrochemical industries near Chengdu, a city of over 5 million people.

China’s pollution is a major social problem. With 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities within China, it is inevitable there will be conflict between further development and the basic rights of citizens to clean water and air.

Since May 4, of course, Sichuan province has experienced a major earthquake causing the loss of at least 20,000 lives. All my sympathies are with those who have been affected. The response from Chinese authorities has been impressive, as has been their openness to media reporting. As a Government they are showing some willingness to be more open, and to accept help from the international community, which stands tall in comparison with the horrendous situation in Burma in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.

Still, Li Shihui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says the earthquake had been predicted by scientists and that authorities failed to notify local communities of the risk. How did Li spread this message? Through a blog, of course. And yes, many of his postings have been censored or deleted by network administrators.

For more information you can look at reports on the Chengdu protest from NTDTV, Liu Xiaoyuan and Sichuan News Online. There is also Li Shihui blog on the Sichuan earthquake.