Shifang

Shifang City Questions China's EIA Mechanism

• Report rights infringement
• published: 05 Jul 2012
• views: 205

Follow us on TWITTER: http://twitter.com/cnforbiddennews Like us on FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/chinaforbiddennews On July 4, the New York Times' Chinese website published a commentary, titled: "The Shifang Protest Questions China's Environmental Impact Assessment Mechanism." The article argues that though China has had rapid economic growth in the past 30 years, it has come at high ecological costs. The country has also seen substantial injustices in social wealth distribution. Beyond the nationwide smoggy skies, polluted rivers and toxic food, Shifang's molybdenum copper project seems to have hit upon the nerves of the Chinese civilians, said the article. While even with the web censors' removal of the online postings, the Shifang protest still topped the heated topics on Sina's Microblog on Tuesday. According to China's media, on July 3, the Shifang authorities announced a halt to construction on this project. However, that same day, the Shifang police issued a warning notice stating that anyone who continues to protest will be "severely punished." Local people have also been banned from using the internet, SMS and other forms of communication to organize demonstrations. The New York Times' article commented that Shifang's official announcement hasn't specified whether the project's construction will be resumed. An official hotline and mailbox were allegedly opened to answer questions and help people to "correctly understand"the project. This seems to be implication that the project's construction will go on in the near future, said the commentary. Chinese Media Cry Out for The Shifang Incident Renowned Beijing-based photographer, Chen Jie, said on his Micro-blog: "As I know, a lot of journalists swiftly arrived on the scene in Shifang. But the media outlets they work for will only serve as bystanders. This is not due to their failure to explore the truth, but rather due their being muzzled. In the end, citizens, via the internet, concertedly finished the reportage—which ended up being the quickest, most detailed and accurate news report [on the issue]. Actually, many of these netizens were journalists, who spoke out under pressure. " On July 4, the China Youth Daily published a review article titled, "Some Things, We Just Cannot Pretend to Ignore." The article commented that proof of some hot topics are often discussed on after another on the internet, some bloggers even post photos, along with detailed descriptions by participants and witnesses. Yet, these news items go unreported by the traditional media. Dongfang Daily and Nanfang Daily have reproduced this view on their official Microblog blogs. The official Microblog blog of Nfdsw.com said:"Today, in Shifang, the SWAT police dared to beat women and children; tomorrow, the SWAT police will dare use violence against you and me in our living places. Today, you keep silent; tomorrow, you and I may be shot to death by the armed forces. We must condemn them. The perpetrators must be brought to justice! Someone must be liable for this vicious incident!" The Economic Observer commented, "Shifang's government looks quite schizophrenic. On one side, it used armed forces to disperse the protesters; on the other, it claimed to heed public opinion and stopped the project. Why did it yield on the core issue after having controlled the situation? The authorities are also afraid of seeing the conflict intensify, —driving the masses into a state of 'not fearing death.' Simply put, the government has no guarantee that it won't resort to violence." 《神韵》2011世界巡演新亮点 http://www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org/