Unable to walk the walk, Chengdu residents talk the talk
Forbidden to demonstrate, Chengdu residents protest the controversial petrochemical plant on Weibo
The presence of thousands of police officers and security agents in Chengdu on Saturday brought back memories of a “peaceful stroll” in May, 4, 2008. Back then, residents of the city, known as “the land of abundance”, protested construction of a 40-billion yuan petrochemical plant in Pengzhou, a country-level city 20km away from the Sichuan capital.
On Saturday, the 5th anniversary of the 2008 protest, a “walk” against the same controversial project - now in its final construction phase - was planned.
Many good-natured Chengdu residents would later argue the “walk” still happened - only it was done by police officers.
It seems that the authorities have resorted to every possible measure in the past week to “scare away” a “real” protest. Official flyers have been posted in neighbourhoods to warn residents about “spreading rumours about the Pengzhou project.
Rewards were offered to printing shops for tips about customers making flyers for the project or planning protests. Emergency meetings were called at the weekend in offices of private and state-owned enterprises, where employees were told to stay to keep off the streets. Even schools were opened on Saturday to keep students out of “trouble”.
