Page 189 - Feasibility Study of New Media Technology on Constructing Online Public Sphere

Chapter 6. The Xiamen PX plant event

environment and to their own health, they had to believe that citizen activity can influ-

ence the government’s decision. Even though the number of people who were actually
involved in the real-world protest is smaller than those who participated on the internet,
it is one of the few methods that can cause a sensation in society and attract attention
from the highest levels of the Party. Thus, Interviewee 8 indicated that:
‘In Xiamen PX plant event, blog is a burgeoning platform, which explains its

great influence. People are increasingly concerned with environmental issues,
health issues and security issues. Thus, they use all kinds of channels to express
voices. If someone has bad motivation and if there is no guidance, it may produce

rumours. If the government does not handle properly, it may cause mass inci-
dents’ .
42
Social events formed on the internet can be contentious and potentially sedi-
tious, challenging ‘normalised practices, modes of causation or systems of authority’
(Beissinger, 2002, p.14).

SMS was the easiest and most widely available channel for information exchange
at that time. Compared with other forms of dissemination on the internet which requires
a device (laptop or computer), network access, and the ability to use internet, SMS can

reach nearly all age ranges of citizens, from young to the old using just a working mo-
bile phone. In the Xiamen PX plant case, it played an essential role in calling for and
organising the protest, which successfully reached about 1.5 million people in Xiamen
and mobile subscribers in other cities (Liu, 2014). Within a short period of time, the
text message was circulated widely.

The day after the text message was sent, 29 May 2007, the Southern Metropolis
Daily seized on the phenomenon and covered it with a report titled ‘A Text Message
Circulated by Millions of Xiamen Residents’. Xinhua Net and other internet companies

reported the topic as well (Cody, 2007). Content of the message included three points:
the dangers of PX to health, how the plant failed to meet international regulations, and
an appeal for protest. These three factors combined together to arouse grave concerns
among the citizens.

42 Translation provided by the author.

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