The authorities have announced they are seeking public feedback on a plan to build yet another giant petrochemical plant in mainland China. Residents of Longkou, a coastal city in Shandong (山東), delivered it in less than a week. Hundreds of demonstrators marched outside the headquarters of the district government, with photos and videos on microblogs showing them holding up placards and shouting slogans about pollution concerns.

The swift, organised response is understandable. Consultations with the public on the mainland over major projects that will or could materially affect their living environment and amenity tend not to last very long, leaving little time to present well researched and articulated arguments opposing them or proposing modifications. This suits officials keen to promote growth through investment and muzzle opposition. But amid rising public fears over the dangers of pollution, the time is long past for just waving projects through without weighing the environmental and social costs.

There is, however, another understandable reason for the swift public outcry, reflected in one microblog asking whether officials had not learned the lessons from the devastating chemical warehouse blast in the port of Tianjin (天津). The explosion and fire last August, just across the Bohai sea from Longkou, cost 173 lives. The proposed Yulong Petrochemical Base would cover more than 50 sq km and produce more than 50 million tonnes of refined oil, as well as petrochemical products including the controversial paraxylene or PX, a chemical used in making plastic bottles and polyester that can be dangerous if inhaled or ingested.