How "Cancel Culture" Ruined this Steel Mill Cafeteria

As major Chinese urban centers develop and environmental protection standards improve, tolerance for polluting industries declines.^[1] After years of efforts to push heavy industries away from large population centers,^[2] the time finally came for ░░░ Iron and Steel. After first opening an iron works in 1957 the factory expanded and eventually became a major contributor to local air pollution.^[1] Eventually it was targeted as one of numerous industrial enterprises that would need to be relocated to areas elsewhere in the province.^[1]

Throughout 2016 and 2017 many of the largest factories in the area suspended operations and relocated^[1] with demolition soon following. This cafeteria building was one of the few structures in the sprawling factory compound that had not yet been razed a few years later. Within the next few years, the massive brownfield site will host new residential blocks and a large urban park.

“In the West, many people understand China’s energy consumption,
environmental problems, issues with migrant workers and the exploitation
of cheap labor in the context of human rights and other international
protocols, but have never probed the relationship between these issues
and the relocation of international industry. The relationship between
China becoming the world’s factory and the deindustrialization of the
West should be obvious. Climate change, the energy issue, cheap labor
and even the mechanisms of state oppression are all integral aspects of
the new international division of labor.”

— Wang Hui quoted in Wainwright & Mann^[2]

1. 高░░. ░░░░░░░░░░. ░░░闻. Published online December 29, 2016.

2. Wainwright J, Mann G. Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future. London ; New York: Verso; 2018.