As news spread earlier this year that China's government had approved a refinery and petrochemicals base near Kunming in southwest China to process crude piped in from Myanmar, a 51-year-old local environmental activist named Zheng Xiejian started disseminating leaflets denouncing the planned project.
今年早些时候传出消息：中国政府已批准在西南地区昆明市附近建设一个炼油厂和石油基地，用于加工从缅甸管线输入的原油。51岁的昆明环保人士郑谢建（音）听闻后，便开始散发传单，谴责这个项目。
Two months later, campaigning by people such as Mr. Zheng has ballooned into full-fledged protest against the facility, which is part of a bid to strengthen energy infrastructure in landlocked southwest China and connect it with plentiful oil and gas imports.
两个月后，郑谢建等人发起的运动迅速演变成了一场声讨该项目的全面抗议活动。这个拟建于昆明的项目是中国加强西南内陆地区能源基础设施建设并使其连接充裕的进口石油天然气的努力之一。
On Thursday, for the second time this month, hundreds of demonstrators in downtown Kunming demanded authorities scrap plans to produce the chemical paraxylene, or PX, at the site and called for the refining base to be relocated farther from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.
上周四，数百名示威者本月第二次在昆明市中心要求当局废除在该项目选址地生产化学物质对二甲苯(PX)的计划，呼吁炼化基地迁址，远离云南省会昆明。
The protests have forced the local government to take steps to engage the demonstrators, somewhat unusual in a country where open dissent can invite harsh retribution. Local leaders have pledged to take public opinion into account, a vow echoed in China's state-run media. Kunming's mayor, Li Wenrong, Thursday stepped out on the city streets to reason with protesters, and Friday opened an account on China's Sina Weibo social-media service to show he wanted to hear public opinions.
迫于抗议活动的压力，当地政府已采取行动与示威者接触，这在公开表示异议会招致严惩的中国实属不寻常之举。据中国国家媒体报道，当地领导人承诺会考虑民意。昆明市长李文荣上周四走上街头，对抗议者晓之以理，并于上周五在中国社交媒体新浪微博上开通账户，表示自己愿意听取公众意见。
Within an hour Friday morning, Web users flooded the account with 4,000 responses. Mr. Li thanked Web users for their concerns and pledged to respond quickly. He signed off the message with a smiley face.
上周五上午，在不到一个小时的时间里，该账户便有了4,000条评论。李文荣感谢网友关注，承诺会尽快回复，并在文字末尾打出了一个笑脸。
For China National Petroleum Corp., which built schools and hospitals to ease opposition in Myanmar to its pipeline, the unexpected fervor of protests at home have increased pressure for transparency. Attempts to reach a CNPC spokesman for comment were unsuccessful.
中国石油天然气集团公司（China National Petroleum Corp.，简称：中国石油集团）在缅甸兴建学校和医院，以缓和缅甸民众对其修建管道设施的反对。然而该公司在本土遭遇抗议热潮，要求公开项目信息的压力不断增大。记者几次试图联系中国石油集团发言人均未成功。
The case has highlighted a new reality for businesses and officials in China: A burgeoning middle class increasingly resents the hazardous pollution levels choking many Chinese cities.
这件事凸显出中国企业和政府官员面临的新现实：中国不断扩大的中产阶级正越来越痛恨很多城市令人窒息的环境污染。
Mr. Zheng, like many of the protesters, learned of the project only after online users began seizing on it in February and March. Local media reports of the refinery's approval by the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning agency, was the first many Yunnan residents had heard any details of the planned facility.
与很多抗议者一样，郑谢建也是在今年2月和3月网民开始关注之后才得知这个项目。当地媒体报道该炼化项目经中国最高经济规划部门国家发展和改革委员会批准时，很多昆明市民才第一次得知项目的具体情况。
On March 16, as prominent Chinese social critic Li Chengpeng participated in a book signing in Kunming, Mr. Zheng arrived to distribute a leaflet, calling for a public referendum and an independent assessment of the project's impact. He says he was quickly detained by police who questioned him for some time before releasing him.
3月16日，中国知名社会评论人士李承鹏在昆明签名售书，郑谢建赶到现场分发传单，呼吁就这个炼化项目举行公众投票，并对项目影响展开独立评估。他说，自己很快便被警方扣押，在接受了一段时间的讯问后获释。
Later, Mr. Zheng put out a call online for fellow Kunming residents to join a demonstration in early April. The turnout was small. During the subsequent weeks, police repeatedly called on him to 'drink tea,' as people in China euphemistically describe being called in by the authorities.
后来，郑谢建在网上呼吁昆明市民参加定于4月初举行的一场示威活动，但实际参与者不多。在接下来的几周里，警方一再请他“喝茶”。在中国，人们把被当局叫去谈话委婉地称作“喝茶”。
'They told me not to concern myself with this issue,' he said.
郑谢建说，他们让我别掺乎这件事。
Others did. One, a 29-year-old designer and Kunming native who gave her surname as Zhang, watched online discussion of the issue with growing alarm. At the end of April and the beginning of May, explicit instructions began flying across Weibo: Meet in front of Kunming's main department store at 1:30 on May 4 to 'go for a walk,' a popular euphemism in China for protesting. It was her first protest.
但其他人并没有就此放手。其中一位29岁的设计师是昆明本地人，自称姓张（音），她越来越不安地关注网上有关此事的讨论。4月底5月初的时候，微博上开始充斥着明确的指示：5月4日下午1点30分在昆明主要百货商场前集合“散步”，这是指代抗议的流行说法。那是她第一次参加抗议活动。
'I was moved,' Ms. Zhang said. 'We're all fond of Yunnan. We cherish our environment.'
张小姐说，我深受触动。我们都热爱云南，我们珍爱我们的环境。
'We don't oppose PX production itself,' said Mr. Zheng. 'What we oppose is the production of PX at an unsafe location.'
她说，我们不反对PX生产本身，我们反对的是在不安全的地点生产PX。
A survey released this month by Shanghai Jiao Tong University found that more than three-quarters of respondents said they would be willing to petition against polluting industries.
上海交通大学本月公布的一项调查显示，超过四分之三的受访者说他们愿意参与请愿活动反对在其城市拟建污染设施
Earlier this week, a Chinese battery maker said it withdrew plans for a new lithium-battery plant in Shanghai. Last year, the planned expansion of a refinery and petrochemicals facility in the eastern city of Ningbo was halted following days of demonstrations.
本周早些时候，中国某电池生产商说撤销了在上海新建一家锂电池厂的计划。去年，东部城市宁波一座炼油厂和石化设施的扩建计划在持续数天的示威活动之后被暂停。
Public-health concerns are one reason for the delay, particularly in the case of PX production. High exposure to PX can damage the nervous system and cause respiratory irritation, according to U.S. government reports. Industry analysts and officials say it can be produced safely including near urban areas. Fears of it rose significantly in China two years ago after a storm in the northeastern city of Dalian sparked fears of a spill there.
公共卫生方面的担忧是推迟的原因之一，尤其是在PX生产方面。美国政府报告显示，大量接触PX会损伤神经系统，导致呼吸系统不适。行业分析人士和官员们说，可以在城市附近等地区安全生产PX。两年前，中国东北城市大连遭遇风暴，人们担心会引发PX泄漏事故，之后中国民众对PX的恐惧大大增加。
Authorities and state enterprises are still finding ways to bring online new production of PX, a chemical used to make polyester and plastic bottles and is in increasing demand as China's appetite for consumer goods grows. After 2007 protests in the city of Xiamen, for example, authorities moved the planed PX facility to a location roughly 30 miles inland. Chemical-industry experts say China's plans to push production of PX appears on track.
当局和国企目前仍在想办法上马PX新项目。这种化学物质被用来生产聚酯和塑料瓶，随着中国对日用消费品的需求不断增加，PX需求也随之扩大。2007年厦门拟建PX项目引发抗议后，当局将该项目迁址到一个约50公里开外的内陆城市。化工业专家说，中国似乎有计划继续推动PX生产。
Still, makers of chemicals and other industrial products say they are taking note. 'Awareness is much higher than in the past,' said Albert Heuser, president and chairman for greater China at Germany's BASF SE (BASFY, BAS.XE). 'This is normal in the development of an emerging society.'
尽管如此，生产化工产品和其它工业品的企业仍说，自己开始注意到环保问题。德国化工企业巴斯夫公司(BASF SE)大中华区总裁兼董事长侯宇哲(Albert Heuser)说，环保意识比以前增强了很多，这是社会发展过程中的正常现象。
The planned refinery near Kunming is a key stopping point for CNPC's $2.5 billion oil-and-gas pipeline project, which connects Myanmar with southwestern China. While its fate remains unclear, it is unlikely the environmental protests would derail the broader effort to transport crude via pipeline through Myanmar.
昆明附近拟建的这个炼化厂是中国石油集团投资25亿美元油气管道项目的关键停靠站，这条管道会把缅甸与中国西南地区连接起来。虽然炼化厂现在前途未卜，但环保抗议不太可能破坏中国通过缅甸油气管道向内地运输原油的努力。
A final decision on what chemical to produce at the facility near Kunming hadn't been made, said a senior executive from Yuntianhua Group, a company responsible for petrochemicals production at the refining base.
云天化集团有限责任公司(Yuntianhua Group)的一位高管说，昆明附近这个炼化厂到底会生产什么化学品还没有最终决定。该集团负责该炼化厂的石化生产。
In Kunming, authorities continued to pressure potential protesters. Professors warned university students they must not skip class, while companies pressured employees not to participate, according to people who attended the protests.
在昆明，当局仍继续向潜在抗议者施压。据参加了抗议活动的人们表示，大学教授提醒在校生不得翘课跑去抗议，而企业也对员工施压，要求他们不得出席抗议活动。
A protester said he was detained as soon as he attempted to don a gas mask at the gathering Thursday. Police demanded his name and phone number, as well as information about his employer. The man was warned not to participate in further protests, he said.
一位抗议者说，在上周四的集会上，他刚准备戴上防毒面具便被羁押。警方要求他交代姓名、电话号码和所在公司的信息。他说，自己被警告不要再参与抗议活动。
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