中國首次考慮"民意" 取消核燃料加工廠項目(2)

Local government authorities in the southern Chinese city of Heshan on Saturday cancelled plans to build the country’s largest uranium processing plant, a day after hundreds of people had demonstrated demanding the $6bn project be scrapped.

中國南方廣東省鶴山市的地方政府上週六取消了建造中國最大核燃料加工廠的計劃，作出這一決定的前一天，當地有數百人舉行示威，抗議這個60億美元的項目。

The Heshan government said in a press conference that it would cancel the project due to “opposition from every level of society”.

鶴山市政府在新聞發佈會上表示，由於社會各界反對意見較多，決定取消該項目。

On Friday, hundreds of protesters had demonstrated outside government offices in Jiangmen, which lies downstream from the proposed facility. The cancellation appeared to be an effort to ward off further demonstrations planned for Sunday.

上週五，數百名抗議者在江門市政府大門外舉行示威。江門位於選定廠址的下游。取消項目似乎是爲了防止在週日發生進一步的示威。

Empowered by social media tools such as Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, and WeChat, a smartphone messaging app, China’s urban citizens are becoming more and more vocal about environmental concerns.

藉助各種社交媒體工具，如中國的微博客網站、類似於Twitter的新浪微博(Weibo)，以及手機即時信息平臺微信(WeChat)，中國的城市居民在環境問題上正變得越來越敢言。

Friday’s protest was organised almost entirely through Weibo, WeChat, and the messaging service QQ, according to participants. It flourished despite censor’s attempts to delete posts about the planned demonstration.

據參加者表示，上週五的抗議幾乎完全是通過新浪微博、微信和即時信息服務QQ組織起來的。儘管審查者竭力刪除有關示威計劃的帖子，但抗議活動還是凝聚了相當的人氣。

With slogans like “Give back our home” and “Oppose nuclear facilities”, hundreds of people marched to the local government headquarters to plead their cause. Large numbers of police and paramilitary forces were present but did not interfere with the march, eyewitnesses said.

數百人舉着“還我綠色家園”和“反對核建設”等標語，遊行至市政府大門外陳情。目擊者表示，現場有大批警察和武警，但他們沒有干涉遊行。

“If the local government has nothing to hide, why didn’t they inform us how they planned to use the land months ago?” said one young mother, surnamed Zhang, who wanted to take part in the demonstration but could not get time off work.

“如果地方政府沒有什麼可瞞的，爲什麼他們不在幾個月前宣佈他們準備怎麼使用那塊土地？”一名姓張的年輕母親表示。她想參加示威，但因需要上班而抽不出身。

Public concerns over nuclear plants and uranium processing facilities have grown after the nuclear accident at Fukushima, which was triggered by a disastrous earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011.

自2011年3月日本地震和海嘯引發福島核電站事故後，公衆對於核電站和鈾加工廠的擔憂顯著加劇。

Following the Japanese nuclear crisis, Beijing suspended approvals for new nuclear plants for 18 months, before resuming its nuclear programme with new safeguards in place.

日本發生核危機後，北京方面曾暫停審批新核電廠項目18個月，最後在落實新的安全標準後才重啓核電建設計劃。

China’s southern provinces are relatively dependent on nuclear power because they are so far away from the coal mines that supply many Chinese power plants.

中國南方各省相對更依賴核能發電，因爲它們遠離向中國許多發電廠供應燃料的煤礦。

The now cancelled Heshan processing facility in the heart of China’s Pearl River delta industrial heartland in Guangdong province was to be built by China’s two largest state-owned nuclear companies, China National Nuclear Corporation and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp. The proposed plant had also sparked unease in neighbouring Hong Kong and Macau. Neither company could be reached for comment.

現已取消的鶴山加工設施位於廣東省珠江三角洲工業腹地的心臟地帶，原本將由兩大國有核能公司——中國核工業集團公司與中國廣核集團建設。建廠計劃也曾在鄰近此地的香港和澳門引起不安。記者聯繫不上這兩家集團請其置評。