Residents demanding a high-speed rail link clashed with police in Linshui in western Sichuan. Photo: via Weibo

Beijing: A by-product of China's breakneck economic growth has been the emergence of "nimbyism" – the "not-in-my-backyard" mantra of middle classes around the world opposing unwanted development.

But it was a pro-development protest that drew thousands of people to the streets of Linshui, a county of western Sichuan province on Saturday, resulting in one of the most violent confrontations to date, hundreds of injuries and unconfirmed reports of three deaths.

While most ordinary Chinese citizens probably wouldn't dare even contemplate the consequences of participating in an overtly political march, increasing environmental awareness means loosely organised demonstrations against government-sanctioned projects are not infrequent.

Thousands of Linshui residents marched on Saturday to protest a regional high-speed rail link bypassing their region. Photo: via Weibo

Tens of thousands have protested against high-polluting petrochemical factories, plastics plants and waste incinerators. Some protests have even been successful, though most have merely led to ugly clashes with police sent to stifle them.

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On Saturday thousands of residents (as many as 30,000 according to organisers) marched to demand construction; angered that a proposed regional high-speed rail link cutting through the hilly region was to bypass their town in favour of neighbouring Guang'an​. 

Guang'an​ is best-known, ironically, as the hometown of former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping​, widely-credited as the architect of modern China's economic leap to its current riches.

Protesters hurl rocks at the confrontation in Linshui. Photo: via Weibo

Videos and photos from the scene circulated on Chinese social media depicted protesters hurling rocks and being beaten heavily by baton-wielding police in riot gear. Many graphic images of bloodied protesters and injured bodies lying in the streets were also shared widely. Police vehicles with smashed windscreens were overturned and set on fire.

A 2011 feasibility study weighed the merits of two competing routes linking Dazhou, in Sichuan, to Chongqing, 200 kilometres to the south.

The eastern route, which passes through Linshui​, is cheaper to build and more direct. But the western route, which goes through Guang'an, was adjudged to have the potential to service more heavily-populated nearby towns. China's official Xinhua News Agency said the railway route remained under discussion. 

But such nascent protesters show a willingness, especially among Chinese in smaller towns, to participate in organised dissent when their direct economic interests are at stake. They also show their increased expectations of local governments.

"Now we only have an expressway," said one Linshui​ resident quoted by the Wall Street Journal. "We desperately need a railway to boost our economy."

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