You can almost picture the central government official from the propaganda bureau or wherever penning this editorial before sending it over to GT. It sure does seem like Beijing is making an example out of Shifang’s local leaders, with this message to everyone else: buck up or fuck off. Quoth GT:

Only erroneous site selections, unqualified environmental protection indexes, and insufficient communication between officials and the public can set these projects in confrontation with public interests. This is exactly why we say what happened in Shifang should never be repeated.

This indeed tests local governments’ governance ability. China is changing, and the Internet is scrutinizing every single corner of society. Local officials should not overestimate their power and resist public supervision. The only thing they can rely on is law-based governance.

Of course, earlier in the same editorial, the author(s) was quick to exculpate the central government, as “the plant was a significant industrial project listed in Sichuan Province’s 12th Five-Year Plan, which was approved by central authorities”:

As a country with a massive population, a shortage of resources and low-level development, China doesn’t have the luxury to only undertake projects that carry no environmental risks like Japan and Europe, which now focus on high-end economy and transfer industries with environmental risks to other countries.

China does need petrochemical plants and molybdenum copper projects. As a densely populated country with many underdeveloped areas, China has to bear the cost of undertaking tiring and environmentally risky industries that many developed countries won’t go near.

That’s stupid, of course. But it’s the first message (incidentally, placed at the end of the editorial) that I find more interesting.

Yesterday, when the Shifang government canceled plans for the factory, I speculated that it was because they read the writing on the wall when Weibo and Baidu searches for “Shifang” remained unblocked. Correlation may not imply causation, but Global Times’s latest editorial at least makes it clear who was at fault. Perhaps the leaders in Shifang failed to pay adequate fealty to those above them?

In any case, it looks like the censors have recently begun to nix Weibo postings, lest the blame begins trickling too far up. According to China Media Project, among the posts that were deleted include the one featuring the now-infamous photo of a riot cop flipping off the camera, which I used yesterday in the post Information Emerges About Yesterday’s Shifang Protest, Plus Videos.

CMP has examples of other deleted posts:

Actor He Zhengjun (何政军), who has just under 200,000 followers on Weibo, responded in another post that was also deleted:

I grew up in Sichuan. My impression of Shifang is of a very small, good and peaceful county. They make cigarettes there, and Gongzi Pai cigars are also manufactured there. What’s been going on there lately, that police would give the people the middle finger?
我在四川長大，印象中什邡是个安宁祥和的小县。那里盛产烟叶，工字牌雪茄便出产于此。最近这里怎么了?警察也要对民众竖中指

This post, made to Sina Weibo by the manager of a media group, was also deleted by the authorities on July 3. It reads simply:

Resistance for environmental protection. Citizens are waking up.
环保抗争，公民觉醒。

Ah, now that’s more like business as usual. Let’s hope the “usual” part doesn’t involve a sneaky restart of the copper project. Admit it: you wouldn’t put that past any of these local leaders, or the almighty “law.”

Wow. So protests in China work? At 5:58 pm today, the official Weibo page of the Shifang, Sichuan municipal government posted a message stating that plans for a proposed molybdenum copper plant, which caused protests that began Saturday and escalated yesterday, have been permanently shelved. Perhaps local leaders read the writing on the wall when the term “Shifang” remained unblocked on Sina Weibo and Baidu: they have no support from Beijing, therefore no chance of winning. (Let this be a lesson in the significance of censorship.)

The Wall Street Journal is also on this story: “The Shifang protests, which have drawn heavy attention on the Chinese-language Internet, illustrate how concern over the environmental and health effects of industry has spread from wealthy coastal areas to smaller and less-developed cities.”

Some netizens replying to the announcement — there are currently 7,456 comments and 17,595 forwards on Shifang’s post (that’s in less than three hours) — have expressed skepticism, while others are declaring victory. Writes 跳墨尔本曳步舞: “Everyone should come to this website to see: 7.2, Shifang, Sichuan opposes molybdenum project with candid community pictures, restores the truth! With pictures, there’s truth. Forward to more people who don’t know the truth…”

A victory for Weibo, then? (Another victory?) Perhaps, and that’s all well and good, but I kind of suspect we’re only in act three of a classic five-act drama. It’ll be interesting to see, in the hours and days to come, whether censors stir from their stoops and draw a line somewhere. Because there’s a funny thing about truth: it can’t be bottled, exactly, and it spreads in all directions at once, including toward mistruth. It’s a stark contrast to blame, which, as I’ve mentioned before, only trickles one direction in a one-party system: up. We’ll see how far it gets in this case.

From where we sit and judging by the videos we’ve seen, the situation in Shifang, Sichuan yesterday looked a lot like a riot that was trying to happen but never materialized. In the above, people stand around while tear gas goes off around them. In the second video, which appears after the jump (along with the Youku version of the above), the title tells us that it was the appearance of riot police that set off the previously docile (though admittedly large) crowd, setting them running (along with traffic cops, funny enough) toward the armored men. We imagine the tear gas canisters, when they began to go off, didn’t help matters.

China Digital Times has provided a compendium of information from English-language sources covering this incident, which began when locals gathered to publicly complain about plans to build a molybdenum copper plant. Via Wall Street Journal:

“Save our homes and environment for the next generation,” read one protest banner, according to a picture posted on Weibo.

The exact size of the protest wasn’t clear, and city officials couldn’t be reached to comment. An employee at the emergency room of Shifang People’s Hospital said not many had sought treatment as a result of the protest, but declined to provide details.

A statement posted to the city government’s website said the type of people who supported the Shifang protests were the same as those supporting overseas groups opposed by the Chinese government. The statement specifically mentioned the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong and the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader.

“Don’t have a superstitious belief in the paper tiger,” the statement read. “They are vicious and merciless and can only convey unrest.”

The Shifang protests appeared to be part of China’s emerging “not-in-my-backyard” movement, where young urban-dwellers in particular have become increasingly vocal in opposing industrial projects viewed as damaging to the environment and their health.

Tea Leaf Nation, as always, is on the scene with translated netizen responses. “The protesters held homemade signs and placards. ‘Save Shifang, Give Us Back Our Environment,’ read one sign, and ‘Molybdenum Copper Plant, Get Out of Shifang,’ read another T-shirt.”

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that the project has been postponed “while authorities dispatch teams to educate citizens about it.” [Insert snarky and cynical thought here.]

Weibo continues to buzz about this protest, which looked like it continued into the night. Here are more pictures (also see: this one from yesterday):

Tear gas:

Protesters react to riot police’s appearance:

UPDATE, 7/4, 5:30 pm: Here’s the best video yet; the smoke and stun grenades start going off around the 2-minute mark:

The only info I have about this picture is the watermark and the caption, from Weibo user zhouwenneng, which reads, “In how many years will this picture win a big prize?”

We’ll update you again tomorrow in the a.m. For now, see our earlier post: Riot Police And Protestors Clash In Shifang, Sichuan Province (residents protesting a construction that would potentially damage their immediate environment).

In Shifang, Sichuan province, hundreds, possibly thousands of people have taken to the street to protest a molybdenum cooper project (run by HTC?) that people fear will be harmful to their environment and health. Netizens on Weibo are currently discussing the incident as it relates to riot police skirmishing with residents and setting off tear gas in the middle of a huge crowd, which they say was unnecessary. Also, several pictures have emerged, which appear after the jump (the videos currently available don’t show much, like this one).

There’s scant information currently, but updates will be posted below when they become available.

UPDATE, 7/3, 11:42 am: More information: Videos have emerged; meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that the project has been postponed “while authorities dispatch teams to educate citizens about it.” No word yet on the exact size of the protest or injuries.

According to Weibo user Tinaa娜娜, a high school student was hurt. She posted these pictures:

(H/T Right Now I/O Feed)