To Stem Protests, China Mandates ‘Social Risk’ Reviews for Big Projects
By KEITH BRADSHER November 13, 2012
中国规定重大项目需评估社会风险
KEITH BRADSHER 报道 2012年11月13日
Faced with a series of large and increasingly violent environmental protests against big industrial projects, the cabinet of China has ordered that all further big projects must pass a ''social risk assessment'' before they can start, the country's environment minister said Monday.
面对针对大型工业项目的一系列越来越暴力的大规模环境抗议活动，中国的环境保护部部长周一称，国务院做出规定，未来所有的重大项目都必须在开工前通过“社会风险评估”。
The unexpected decision comes after thousands of protesters have taken to the streets over the past year in at least eight cities, forcing the suspension or cancellation of chemical plants, coal- fired power plants and a giant copper smelter.
这项决策出乎人们的预料。过去一年，至少八个城市的成千上万名抗议者走上街头，迫使一些化工厂、燃煤发电厂和一家巨型炼铜厂项目被暂停，或被取消。
The initial protests a year ago drew mostly middle-aged and older demonstrators who had little to lose if the police put disparaging remarks about them into the personnel files that the government maintains on every citizen. But demonstrations over the last several months have involved angry youths who gathered from multiple towns and used social media to coordinate their activities during clashes with security forces - new trends that are certain to have dismayed the country's political leadership.
一年前的首轮抗议活动吸引的大部分是中老年示威者，他们不害怕警察在政府给每个公民建立的个人档案中留下坏的记录。但参与过去几个月抗议活动的却是愤怒的年轻人。他们从多个村镇集合，与公安部门发生冲突的时候运用社交媒体来协调行动。这种新趋势必然使中国的政治领导层感到不安。
Ng Han Guan/Associated Press
10月28日，数以千计的抗议者出于对环境和健康的担忧，集会抗议什邡化工厂扩建项目。
''No major projects can be launched without social risk evaluations,'' Zhou Shengxian, the environment minister, said at a news conference held in conjunction with the 18th Party Congress. ''By doing so, I hope we can reduce the number of mass incidents in the future.''
环境保护部部长周生贤在中共十八大期间召开的新闻发布会上说，“凡是重大建设项目，都要进行社会风险评估。这些工作落实了，突发性群体性事件这种情况会相对减少一些。”
Each new protest in recent months has set off frenzied national discussions on Sina Weibo, the popular Chinese microblogging site, soaring repeatedly to the top of the list of most-searched subjects.
最近几个月，每起新的抗议活动都会在中国流行的微博平台新浪微博上掀起热烈的全国性讨论，屡次飙升到热门话题榜单的首位。
Strengthening grass-roots protests against chemical factories in mainland China also has parallels to the experience of Taiwan in the 1970s. Similar protests against chemical factories there were tolerated despite martial law, and they helped create a pro-democracy movement that led to the repeal of martial law in 1987 and the subsequent creation of a vibrant democracy with two parties alternating in power.
中国大陆愈演愈烈的反对化工厂的草根抗议活动也与20世纪70年代台湾的经历类似。当时尽管有戒严令，但台湾类似的反化工厂抗议活动得到了容忍。这些活动帮助创立的民主运动最终使戒严令于1987年废止，随后又促成了一个两党轮流执政的生机勃勃的民主政体。
China has led the world with double- digit economic growth for the past three decades, but it has paid a heavy environmental price. Acrid smog coats most large Chinese cities for much of the year, while large numbers of lakes and rivers have been heavily contaminated.
过去三十年中，中国以两位数的经济增长率引领全球，但也付出了沉重的环境代价。一年中的大部分时间，刺鼻的烟雾萦绕在多数中国大城市的上空，大量的湖泊和河流被严重污染。
The announcement of social risk assessments is a surprise that the national government had not even hinted at previously, although Jiangsu Province in east-central China has considered them, said Ma Jun, the director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, one of the best-known environmental groups in Beijing.
北京最知名的环境团体之一、公众与环境研究中心的主任马军称，虽然位于中国东部的江苏省考虑过这项措施，但中央政府之前没有表示过任何要这样做的迹象，因此需要做社会风险评估的宣布是大家没想到的。
Thousands of young protesters fought the riot police for two nights in early July in Shifang, in western China, prompting the local government to announce the cancellation of a giant copper smelter that was seen by demonstrators as a pollution threat. The government also issued a public warning on the Internet that any further protests would be met with a harsh use of force.
7月初，数千名青年抗议者与防暴警察在中国西部的什邡进行了两晚的对抗，促使当地政府取消了一家巨型炼铜厂的兴建计划。抗议者认为，这座工厂将带来污染的威胁。政府还在互联网上发布了一项禁令，称将严厉惩罚任何继续进行抗议的人。
But the following night, the largest crowd yet gathered to demand the release of a couple dozen protesters detained during the two previous nights, and the local government backed down and released them.
但在第三个晚上，更多的人群聚集起来，要求释放头两晚遭到拘捕的二十几名抗议者。当地政府做出让步，释放了他们。
Mr. Zhou, the environment minister, said that mass protests tended to happen because of one or more of the four mistakes that the government now intends to remedy. These mistakes involve the start of projects without official approval, a lack of proper environmental impact assessments, weak local governments and a failure to conduct social risk evaluations in advance.
环境保护部部长周生贤称，群体抗议活动可能由政府四种错误中的一种或几种来引发，现在政府希望进行纠正。这些错误包括：未批先建；在环境影响评价方面有待进一步改进；所在地政府的执政能力问题；以及社会风险评估的法律不健全、机制不健全。
Mr. Zhou did not provide a description of how social risk assessments would be conducted but indicated that they would involve looking at the likelihood that a project would set off a public backlash.
周生贤没有详细描述如何进行社会风险评价，但预示应考察项目引发公众反对的可能性。
Mr. Zhou also said that effective Sept. 1, all government agencies in China had been ordered to make public all environmental impact assessments by posting them on the Internet, together with a description of what the government planned to do about the assessments.
周生贤还称，自9月1日起，中国所有的政府部门将依照规定在互联网上公开环境影响评价涉及的全部信息，包括各级政府所做的承诺。
Mr. Ma said by telephone that the Ministry of Environmental Protection had previously sent out a legal notice of this decision, although it had received limited public attention. He said that the policy did not go far enough, because government agencies are required to post only the summaries of environmental impact statements and not the statistical details, which may be more revealing.
通过电话访问，马军称环境保护部之前曾发布一项法律通知传达了这项规定，但没有受到多少公众关注。他说这项政策走得还不够远，因为政府部门只被要求公开环境影响评价的摘要，而不是能揭示更多细节的具体的统计数据。
Environmental officials in China want the introduction of social risk assessments because protests against industrial projects often involve broader issues than just the environment and may extend to questions like whether the land for the project was lawfully obtained with proper compensation for its previous owners, Mr. Ma said.
马军说，中国的环保官员之所以希望引入社会风险评估，是因为针对工业项目的抗议活动往往还涉及环境之外的问题，比如土地是否合法征用，对之前的拥有者是否进行了适当的赔偿。
''The environmental agencies feel they have been put under too much pressure, beyond the authority they've got,'' he added.
“环境部门感到，他们承受了太多的压力，超出了他们的职能范围，”他补充道。
翻译：黄铮
To Stem Protests, China Mandates ‘Social Risk’ Reviews for Big Projects
By KEITH BRADSHER November 13, 2012
中国规定重大项目需评估社会风险
KEITH BRADSHER 报道 2012年11月13日
Faced with a series of large and increasingly violent environmental protests against big industrial projects, the cabinet of China has ordered that all further big projects must pass a ''social risk assessment'' before they can start, the country's environment minister said Monday.
面对针对大型工业项目的一系列越来越暴力的大规模环境抗议活动，中国的环境保护部部长周一称，国务院做出规定，未来所有的重大项目都必须在开工前通过“社会风险评估”。
The unexpected decision comes after thousands of protesters have taken to the streets over the past year in at least eight cities, forcing the suspension or cancellation of chemical plants, coal- fired power plants and a giant copper smelter.
这项决策出乎人们的预料。过去一年，至少八个城市的成千上万名抗议者走上街头，迫使一些化工厂、燃煤发电厂和一家巨型炼铜厂项目被暂停，或被取消。
The initial protests a year ago drew mostly middle-aged and older demonstrators who had little to lose if the police put disparaging remarks about them into the personnel files that the government maintains on every citizen. But demonstrations over the last several months have involved angry youths who gathered from multiple towns and used social media to coordinate their activities during clashes with security forces - new trends that are certain to have dismayed the country's political leadership.
一年前的首轮抗议活动吸引的大部分是中老年示威者，他们不害怕警察在政府给每个公民建立的个人档案中留下坏的记录。但参与过去几个月抗议活动的却是愤怒的年轻人。他们从多个村镇集合，与公安部门发生冲突的时候运用社交媒体来协调行动。这种新趋势必然使中国的政治领导层感到不安。
Ng Han Guan/Associated Press
10月28日，数以千计的抗议者出于对环境和健康的担忧，集会抗议什邡化工厂扩建项目。
''No major projects can be launched without social risk evaluations,'' Zhou Shengxian, the environment minister, said at a news conference held in conjunction with the 18th Party Congress. ''By doing so, I hope we can reduce the number of mass incidents in the future.''
环境保护部部长周生贤在中共十八大期间召开的新闻发布会上说，“凡是重大建设项目，都要进行社会风险评估。这些工作落实了，突发性群体性事件这种情况会相对减少一些。”
Each new protest in recent months has set off frenzied national discussions on Sina Weibo, the popular Chinese microblogging site, soaring repeatedly to the top of the list of most-searched subjects.
最近几个月，每起新的抗议活动都会在中国流行的微博平台新浪微博上掀起热烈的全国性讨论，屡次飙升到热门话题榜单的首位。
Strengthening grass-roots protests against chemical factories in mainland China also has parallels to the experience of Taiwan in the 1970s. Similar protests against chemical factories there were tolerated despite martial law, and they helped create a pro-democracy movement that led to the repeal of martial law in 1987 and the subsequent creation of a vibrant democracy with two parties alternating in power.
中国大陆愈演愈烈的反对化工厂的草根抗议活动也与20世纪70年代台湾的经历类似。当时尽管有戒严令，但台湾类似的反化工厂抗议活动得到了容忍。这些活动帮助创立的民主运动最终使戒严令于1987年废止，随后又促成了一个两党轮流执政的生机勃勃的民主政体。
China has led the world with double- digit economic growth for the past three decades, but it has paid a heavy environmental price. Acrid smog coats most large Chinese cities for much of the year, while large numbers of lakes and rivers have been heavily contaminated.
过去三十年中，中国以两位数的经济增长率引领全球，但也付出了沉重的环境代价。一年中的大部分时间，刺鼻的烟雾萦绕在多数中国大城市的上空，大量的湖泊和河流被严重污染。
The announcement of social risk assessments is a surprise that the national government had not even hinted at previously, although Jiangsu Province in east-central China has considered them, said Ma Jun, the director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, one of the best-known environmental groups in Beijing.
北京最知名的环境团体之一、公众与环境研究中心的主任马军称，虽然位于中国东部的江苏省考虑过这项措施，但中央政府之前没有表示过任何要这样做的迹象，因此需要做社会风险评估的宣布是大家没想到的。
Thousands of young protesters fought the riot police for two nights in early July in Shifang, in western China, prompting the local government to announce the cancellation of a giant copper smelter that was seen by demonstrators as a pollution threat. The government also issued a public warning on the Internet that any further protests would be met with a harsh use of force.
7月初，数千名青年抗议者与防暴警察在中国西部的什邡进行了两晚的对抗，促使当地政府取消了一家巨型炼铜厂的兴建计划。抗议者认为，这座工厂将带来污染的威胁。政府还在互联网上发布了一项禁令，称将严厉惩罚任何继续进行抗议的人。
But the following night, the largest crowd yet gathered to demand the release of a couple dozen protesters detained during the two previous nights, and the local government backed down and released them.
但在第三个晚上，更多的人群聚集起来，要求释放头两晚遭到拘捕的二十几名抗议者。当地政府做出让步，释放了他们。
Mr. Zhou, the environment minister, said that mass protests tended to happen because of one or more of the four mistakes that the government now intends to remedy. These mistakes involve the start of projects without official approval, a lack of proper environmental impact assessments, weak local governments and a failure to conduct social risk evaluations in advance.
环境保护部部长周生贤称，群体抗议活动可能由政府四种错误中的一种或几种来引发，现在政府希望进行纠正。这些错误包括：未批先建；在环境影响评价方面有待进一步改进；所在地政府的执政能力问题；以及社会风险评估的法律不健全、机制不健全。
Mr. Zhou did not provide a description of how social risk assessments would be conducted but indicated that they would involve looking at the likelihood that a project would set off a public backlash.
周生贤没有详细描述如何进行社会风险评价，但预示应考察项目引发公众反对的可能性。
Mr. Zhou also said that effective Sept. 1, all government agencies in China had been ordered to make public all environmental impact assessments by posting them on the Internet, together with a description of what the government planned to do about the assessments.
周生贤还称，自9月1日起，中国所有的政府部门将依照规定在互联网上公开环境影响评价涉及的全部信息，包括各级政府所做的承诺。
Mr. Ma said by telephone that the Ministry of Environmental Protection had previously sent out a legal notice of this decision, although it had received limited public attention. He said that the policy did not go far enough, because government agencies are required to post only the summaries of environmental impact statements and not the statistical details, which may be more revealing.
通过电话访问，马军称环境保护部之前曾发布一项法律通知传达了这项规定，但没有受到多少公众关注。他说这项政策走得还不够远，因为政府部门只被要求公开环境影响评价的摘要，而不是能揭示更多细节的具体的统计数据。
Environmental officials in China want the introduction of social risk assessments because protests against industrial projects often involve broader issues than just the environment and may extend to questions like whether the land for the project was lawfully obtained with proper compensation for its previous owners, Mr. Ma said.
马军说，中国的环保官员之所以希望引入社会风险评估，是因为针对工业项目的抗议活动往往还涉及环境之外的问题，比如土地是否合法征用，对之前的拥有者是否进行了适当的赔偿。
''The environmental agencies feel they have been put under too much pressure, beyond the authority they've got,'' he added.
“环境部门感到，他们承受了太多的压力，超出了他们的职能范围，”他补充道。
翻译：黄铮