The recent outcry against a chemical plant project in east China's booming city of Ningbo should not be taken as a disharmonious noise amid a nationwide atmosphere of "merrily embracing" the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The protests, following a suit of similar events in other cities this year, signaled a warning to the ruling party that it has to face up to mounting challenges from the people who are becoming more aware of rights when it sets future governance agendas at the congress slated for Nov. 8.

Rights protection has been the top leadership's concern, as indicated by President Hu Jintao's speech to provincial and ministerial officials in July, which was regarded to have set the tone for the coming Party Congress.

Hu, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, told the senior officials when talking about deepening political reform, that the Party must ensure the people enjoy broad rights and freedom.

Ever since the CPC vowed human rights protection in its political report at a National Congress 15 years ago, the first reference in such a case in its history, the Party has been promoting human rights development in the dimension of top-level design.

However, Chinese people's rights awareness seems to be growing faster than local authorities' preparedness to deal with the change that has seen popping-up troubles, including protests, across the country in recent years.

Only about 10 years ago, people were simply verbal complainers about environmental woes, but now, for example, in Ningbo, they took to the streets demonstrating their opposition against the expansion of the chemical plant that they believed to be hazardous to their health.

More interestingly, they added English translations to their slogans, such as "Get out of Ningbo!"

The translations indicate that local people have begun to recognize the importance of grabbing foreign media's attention to make their grumbles heard in an era when new media is globalizing information dissemination and the country has to become more open to foreign media outlets.

The Ningbo protests showed that people are now well aware of where their rights are and how they can defend their rights.

Environmental concerns also triggered protests in Shifang, Sichuan Province, and Qidong, Jiangsu Province this year alone. Previously, such protests were sporadically heard.

Environmental woes, however, are not the only cause of complaints and protests. Land grab, forced demolition of homes and labor disputes are all possible powder kegs that may trigger unrest, as rapid development has not only landed the country onto the position of the world's second largest economy, but also thrown it into a state of frequent occurrences of social conflicts.