Breaking | Planned protest against smog in southwest China shut down before it begins

Worsening air pollution in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province, kindled calls for a mass protest on social media on Saturday but the smouldering unrest was extinguished before it began.

Tianfu Square, the traffic and business hub of the city that is home to the famous panda breeding reserve, was empty on Saturday, when it would normally be bustling with tourists and local shoppers.

Staff at nearby restaurants told the South China Morning Post that local police had blockaded the main access roads to the square, not allowing cars or pedestrians to pass. Earlier in the day, multiple posts on social media had called for people to protest at the square, but the posts were quickly deleted on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. The microblog operator issued a statement that the posts were “false rumours”.

A staff member who answered the phone at the nearby police station confirmed the blockades but refused to give a reason and declined to be identified. “It is a coordinated action upon the order of superiors, and it could last two or three days,” he said.

No official explanation has yet been provided for the blockade and phone calls to the city government’s information office went unanswered.