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On Sunday more than ten thousand people took to the streets, calling for a chemical plant to close in Dalian City, in northeast China. And eventually authorities gave in to public demands. But one day later, on Monday morning, the plant was still operating as normal. Analysts suspect authorities deceived the local residents in order to put an end to the protests.
Over ten thousand people protested outside the offices of local authorities in Dalian City, in China's northeastern Liaoning Province. They are calling for a local chemical plant to be shut down and moved.
Locals suspected a chemical leak at the Fujia Chemical Plant in Dalian, after a dyke that protects the plant from the sea was damaged during the recent typhoon, Muifa.
On Sunday night, local authorities conceded to the crowd's demands and agreed to shut the plant down. Professor Han Yanyi from Dalian University of Technology says authorities had no choice but to comply.
[Han Yanyi, Professor, Dalian University of Technology]:
"The people had no other method (to get their voice heard), so they were forced to come out on the streets. If there wasn't this concession, then there may be a second, a third or a fourth protest, and it would be a different situation. Perhaps the authorities would lose control. So considering the people's mood from the standpoint of authorities, they had to shut the factory down. They wouldn't dare not to."
Yet on Monday the plant was apparently operating as normal. They told Reuters news agency they hadn't received orders from authorities to stop production. Experts suspect the promise to shut the plant down was merely a PR stunt to calm protests.
