Chinese authorities ordered a chemical factory to close on Sunday after more than 12,000 demonstrators confronted riot police, demanding the plant’s relocation amid health fears.

　　中国官方周日下令一家化工厂停产，此前逾12000名示威者与防暴警察对峙，示威者以健康担忧为由，要求该厂搬迁。

　　Scuffles broke out between police and protesters, mostly young people, in the public square outside the municipal government offices in Dalian, Liaoning province.

　　在辽宁省大连市政府外的人民广场上，以年轻人为主的抗议者与警察发生了肢体冲突。

　　Public anger in the north-east Chinese city erupted after the Fujia Chemical Plant, which produces the toxic chemical paraxylene, or PX, came close to being inundated with sea water during a storm last week.

　　上周热带风暴来袭期间，生产有毒化学品对二甲苯(paraxylene，简称 PX)的“福佳大化”工厂险些被海水倒灌，这座东北城市市民的愤怒由此爆发。

　　Hours after the protest began, the Dalian government said it had ordered the chemical plant to close immediately. It said the factory would be relocated.

　　抗议开始几小时后，大连市政府表示，已下令这家化工厂立即停产。市政府称，该厂将被搬迁。

　　The protest was the latest against environmental disasters and degradation caused by China’s rapid industrialisation and economic development. China’s government faces a dilemma because it refuses to allow political reforms, while the population becomes increasingly wealthy, connected via the internet, critical of poor governance and distrustful of its leaders.

　　中国的快速工业化和经济发展，导致了环境灾难和环境退化，大连这次事件是针对此类问题的最新一起抗议。中国政府面临一个两难困境，因为一方面它拒绝允许政治改革，而另一方面中国人变得越来越富裕，而且通过互联网联系在一起，对糟糕的治理提出批评，还不信任国家领导人。

　　On Sunday, many of the demonstrators sang the national anthem and carried banners emphasising their patriotism in an apparent attempt to avoid the harsh response often meted out to dissidents.

　　周日，许多示威者高唱中国国歌，高举着爱国标语，这显然是为了避免遭遇官方经常对异见人士采取的严厉手段。

　　Dalian’s senior officials, Tang Jun, the Communist party secretary, and Li Wancai, the mayor, “tried to appease the crowd by promising to move the plant out of the city”, reported the state-run Xinhua news agency.

　　据官方的新华社报道，大连市委书记唐军和市长李万才承诺将该厂搬离大连，以求安抚人群。

　　But some protesters said they would refuse to leave the square until a timetable was announced.

　　但一些抗议者表示，在宣布搬迁时间表之前，他们将拒绝离开广场。

　　Last Monday, the government evacuated homes near the huge Fujia plant – which is built on reclaimed land – after waves from a tropical storm breached a dyke protecting the plant.

　　“福佳大化”工厂建在填海造地得来的土地上。上周一，政府疏散了这座巨大工厂附近的居民，当时，保护该厂的防波堤在一场热带风暴中被冲毁。

　　The large factory is about 20km from the centre of the city of 6m people.

　　这座大型工厂距离大连这座600万人口城市的市中心大约20公里。

　　PX is widely used in the production of paints, plastics and polyester. Chronic exposure can result in genetic defects and death.

　　对二甲苯广泛用于油漆、塑料和聚酯的生产。慢性接触可能导致遗传缺陷和死亡。

　　Dalian residents complain they were kept in the dark about the Fujia plant’s construction, which began in 2005. Anger was further fuelled last week when it was reported that although the factory started full production in June 2009, it did not receive the necessary environmental approvals until April last year.

　　大连市民抱怨称，他们对2005年动工的这座工厂的建设不知情。上周令市民更加气愤的是，有报道称，虽然该厂在2009年6月就全面投产，但直到去年4月，才获得了必要的环保批准。

　　Public consultation over such projects is rare in China and officials often push through big industrial developments without heeding opposition or environmental laws.

　　中国很少就此类项目咨询公众意见，官员们往往强行推动大型工业项目上马，而置反对意见或环保法规于不顾。

　　In 2008, protests in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen forced authorities to scrap plans to build a similar PX plant.

　　2008年，中国南方城市厦门曾爆发抗议，迫使官方放弃建设一家类似PX工厂的计划。

　　But environmental activists say if Dalian officials follow through on their promises it will be the first time a large, operational petrochemical plant was relocated in China because of public concerns.

　　但环保活动人士表示，如果大连官员兑现自己的承诺，那将是中国一家已经投产的大型石化厂首次由于公众关切而被搬迁。

　　As with many recent protests in China, Sunday’s demonstration was apparently organised through Chinese micro-blogging and instant messaging websites.

　　与中国近期许多抗议活动一样，周日的示威显然是通过中国的微博和即时信息网站组织起来的。