A major fire engulfs a paraxylene chemical plant after an explosion in Zhangzhou, southeast China on April 6, 2015
The rallies underscored the increasing number of angry protests over environmental concerns in the country, where three decades of rapid and unfettered industrial expansion have taken a heavy toll.
The environment minister said in March that construction of PX projects must be “scientifically decided and must pass environmental impact assessment”, Xinhua reported Monday.
In a sign of the ruling Communist Party’s sensitivity to the debate over environmental issues, comments had been disabled on a report about the Zhangzhou incident on the Netease web portal as of Tuesday morning.
Yet discussion of the explosion dominated China’s popular online social networks, with many users citing the incident as vindication of protesters’ fears.
“Do you remember what we were worried about at the time?” wrote a user on Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter equivalent, referring to similar protests in the northeastern city of Dalian in 2011. “What we worried about is now the reality in Zhangzhou.”
One user wrote: “Only when the city officials and their families live near a PX plant will their assurances be convincing.”
Another opined: “They should build a PX plant in Beijing.”
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