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於一些工業設施的建設計劃引發了強烈不滿﹐中國兩個西部城市的氣氛陷入緊張﹐這是中國公眾日益增強的環保意識可能阻撓官員們所說的經濟增長所需項目的最新例證。在中國西南部雲南省的省會昆明市﹐上週六﹐至少數百人湧上市中心的街道﹐抗議在附近擬建的一個石油煉化廠項目。
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
雲南昆明市，抗議者打出標語，抗議該地建造對二甲苯生產廠的計劃。對二甲苯是一種有毒石化產品，是生產纖維織物的原料。
項目的反對者、昆明人鄭謝建（音）說﹐當地的活動人士要求對項目的環境影響進行第三方評估﹐許多人擔心﹐這些設施可能會對昆明市民的健康不利。
鄭謝建上週六接受採訪時說﹐我們會看看政府對今天抗議的反應。如果他們沒有回應﹐我們將繼續抗議。
與此同時﹐在距離昆明不遠的四川省省會、重要的內陸工業中心成都﹐官員們近幾天一直在試圖防止在附近建設煉油廠的計劃引發抗議。微博上的照片顯示﹐上週六﹐成都增加了警力﹐這顯然是為了震懾潛在的抗議者。
中國城市居民日益增強的環保維權意識已經成為令中國高層領導人擔憂的一個主要問題﹐也是國有石油業高管需要面對的一個棘手問題。這些高管們需要開發更大的石油和天然氣設施﹐為中國不斷增多的汽車提供汽油﹐生產紡織業所需的塑料和化學品等各種產品。
對 於成都和昆明等中國內地城市來說尤其如此。與發達的東部地區相比﹐西部的勞動力和其他成本要低很多﹐隨著越來越多的公司將生產設備轉移到西部中小城市﹐中 國西部中小城市的經濟增長近幾年有所加速。官員們面臨的一個關鍵問題是﹐如何在不引發大範圍社會動盪的前提下﹐迅速建造支持中國西部增長所需的能源基礎設 施。
昆明週末爆發抗議之前﹐去年中國東部城市寧波的一個煉油廠擴建計劃也引發了類似的抗議活動。那次的抗議持續了數天﹐寧波市政府官員最終答應暫停擴建計劃。
近幾個月﹐中國國內一再出現反對工業設施項目上馬的激烈示威活動﹐凸顯出民眾對國企及國企能否以環保態度發展工業的不信任。剛剛過去的這個冬天﹐中國大部分地區接連出現嚴重空氣污染問題﹐普通百姓的環保意識隨之進一步增強。
中國國務院總理李克強今年3月承認﹐中國面臨嚴峻的環境危機﹐誓言要針對污染企業採取更嚴厲的措施。
跟去年寧波的抗議者一樣﹐昆明的抗議者反對的是對二甲苯(PX)的生產。這種化學品是生產塑料等製品的重要基礎材料。據新華社報道﹐這個將落戶於昆明安寧市的化工廠對二甲苯年產量為50萬噸。
據美國政府以及行業報告說﹐大量接觸這種物質可刺激眼睛﹐引起呼吸道不適。
新華社報道稱﹐抗議者舉著的標語上寫著：安寧煉油﹐別把我們的家園變成煉獄。從微博上的照片可以看到﹐示威者在抗議過程中象徵性地戴著口罩。
昆明和成都附近的新項目均是中國國有石油巨頭中國石油天然氣集團公司(China National Petroleum Corp.﹐簡稱：中國石油集團)擬建的。該集團這些天一直在努力消除民眾的擔憂。
中 國石油集團旗下四川石化有限責任公司(Sichuan Petrochemical)上週四發表聲明說﹐作為一家國有企業﹐該公司有義務以對社會負責任的方式來完成這個項目。中國石油集團將位於成都以北約30 公里的彭州作為這個煉油廠項目的落戶地﹐項目建成後日煉油量約為20萬桶。
四川石化的那則聲明說﹐該項目將真心實意服務四川人民。
四川省政府控制的一個網站上週六發佈了一段文字採訪﹐其中中國石油集團一位未具名高管為彭州項目進行了辯護﹐說公司使用先進工藝﹐確保以清潔的方式進行煉油和石化生產。
Brian Spegele
Chinese Protest Industrial Facilities
Tension is bubbling in two western Chinese cities as opposition grows against planned industrial facilities, the latest examples of growing public environmental concern threatening to derail projects that officials say are needed for economic growth.
In the southwest city of Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, at least several hundred people flooded downtown streets on Saturday, demonstrating against an oil refinery and petrochemical processing plant planned nearby.
Local organizers and the state-run Xinhua news agency confirmed the protest. Photos posted to China's Sina Weibo microblogging service showed crowds of perhaps more than 1,000 gathering in downtown Kunming. The demonstrations appeared largely peaceful.
Activists there are calling for a third-party environmental impact assessment of the project, and many fear the facility will be detrimental to Kunming residents' health, according to Zheng Xiejian, a Kunming native and opponent of the planned project.
'We will see how the government reacts to today's protest,' said Mr. Zheng, in an interview on Saturday. 'If they have no response, we will continue protesting.'
Meanwhile in Chengdu, the capital of neighboring Sichuan and a key inland industrial center, officials have been working in recent days to head off potential protests against a planned nearby oil refinery. Photos on Weibo showed heightened police presence in the city on Saturday, which appeared to deter potential protesters.
Growing environmental activism among urban Chinese has emerged as a key concern for senior Chinese leaders, and a headache for state oil executives who need to develop greater oil and gas infrastructure to produce everything from gasoline for growing numbers of Chinese cars to plastics and chemicals needed for the textiles industry.
That is particularly so for inland Chinese cities like Chengdu and Kunming. Growth in smaller, western Chinese cities has picked up in recent years as companies increasingly migrate operations to smaller cities in the west, where labor and other costs can be substantially lower than in the vastly developed east. Among the key questions facing officials is how to rapidly build out energy infrastructure needed to fuel growth in western China without spurring wide social unrest.
The weekend protest in Kunming follows a similar uprising against a planned refinery expansion in the eastern city of Ningbo last year. Protests there lasted for days and local officials eventually promised to suspend a planned expansion of the industrial facility.
Repeated and aggressive demonstrations in recent months against planned industrial facilities have highlighted public mistrust of state-owned enterprises and their ability to develop industry in an environmentally responsible manner. Environmental consciousness among ordinary Chinese rose further in recent months after a spate of severe air pollution blanketed large swaths of the country this winter.
Premier Li Keqiang acknowledged the severity of China's environmental crisis in March, and has vowed tougher measures to deal with polluters.
Protesters in Kunming, as in Ningbo last year, opposed production of the chemical paraxylene, known as PX. The chemical is an important building block in the production of plastics and other goods. Xinhua reported the facility in Anning will produce 500,000 tons of paraxylene annually.
But high levels of exposure can irritate the eyes and cause respiratory discomfort, according to U.S. government and industry reports.
'Anning refinery, do not turn our home into hell,' read one of the protesters' signs, according to Xinhua. Photos on Weibo showed demonstrators wearing face masks in symbolic protest.
The new facilities near Kunming and Chengdu are both being planned by state oil giant China National Petroleum Corp., which has attempted to allay public concern in recent days.
A statement dated Thursday by CNPC subsidiary Sichuan Petrochemical said that as a state-owned enterprise, the company had an obligation to complete the project in a socially responsible way. CNPC's planned refinery in Pengzhou, 20 miles north of Chengdu, will be able to process around 200,000 barrels of oil a day when completed.
The project, according to the company statement, would 'genuinely and sincerely serve the Sichuan people.'
Separately, in an interview posted Saturday to a website controlled by the Sichuan government, an unnamed CNPC official defended the Sichuan project and said the company was using advanced technologies to ensure clean refining and petrochemicals production.
Brian Spegele
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