On April 6, after the journalist's investigation had been interfered with, Liu personally organized a group of officials from various levels of government to inspect the nine steel mills. When talking about this experience, Liu is visibly moved. "Almost all of these mills were charged because they were breaking the law. In order to give expression to the strength and determination of this round of rectification, we blew up two furnaces."

But according to the new "Property Law", the government has no power to act against industrial facilities in this way. They can only use persuasion.

Consent of the Industry

The real demolishing period began after the government spent time seeking approval from interested parties, . It was at this moment one long-time worker grabbed a bottle of alcohol and scaled up a 50 meter blasting furnace at his mill, a last-ditch attempt to prevent its imminent demolition. "Upon seeing this a lot of people cried. But what could we do? We had to do our jobs," said Liu.

But other problems were to give Liu even bigger headaches.

The closing of the seven mills led to the unemployment of more than 10,000 residents of Changli. The ensuing question of social stability is something that Liu has no choice but to face.

"Some say I have bad luck, to be faced with the "environmental windstorm" just as I came into office, with all of the unemployed in the background pointing fingers. But I'm already used to it," says Liu with a hint of helplessness.

The Independence of Government Organs

The seven mills that have gone offline had made up 30 percent of Changli's tax revenue for that industry. The remaining two made up 70 percent. In this windstorm, two remaining mills that supposedly survived by good luck are in reality also violating regulations and have yet to undergo environmental assessments. They claim that by abiding by national standards for the industry, they avoided being demolished.

"Originally, we wanted to save three and shut down six, but after the investigation by CCTV, we decided to make an example of them and shut down seven," says Liu.

These shutdowns show that local government can completely guarantee the enforcement of environmental protection. But if all nine plants were breaking the law, why were two granted a grace period? In response to this, Liu draws an analogy, "The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC doesn't punish all officials in one sweep. To improve the overall situation, perhaps making examples of some is best."