Chinese villagers protest local environmental damage.In a defiant display of community activism, rural farmers in China's Zhejiang province blocked roads and clashed with military forces earlier this year to draw attention to local industrial pollution. The farmers alleged that toxic gases released from 13 industrial plants near their village, Huaxi, have caused high numbers of miscarriages among residents and that water pollution is so extreme they can no longer grow healthy crops. The protests began March 24 when elderly farmers erected a roadblock to stop traffic to the factories, which opened in 2002 to produce fertilizer, dye, and pesticides. Under Chinese law Chinese law Law that evolved in China from the earliest times until the 20th century, when Western socialist law (see Soviet law) was introduced. The oldest extant and complete Chinese law code was compiled in AD 653 during the Tang dynasty. , farmers do not own their land but instead receive a 30-year lease from the government. Despite legal protections, their property is often appropriated for industrial use. A 2004 report published in China Chemical Daily News detailed how an apparent lack of oversight of the Huaxi plants had left creeks foamy foam·y adj. foam·i·er, foam·i·est 1. Of, consisting of, or resembling foam. 2. Covered with foam. foam and discolored dis·col·or v. dis·col·ored, dis·col·or·ing, dis·col·ors v.tr. To alter or spoil the color of; stain. v.intr. To become altered or spoiled in color. and the air foul-smelling and noxious noxious adj. harmful to health, often referring to nuisances. . Two weeks into the blockade, police were ordered to clear protesters from the roads, injuring dozens and provoking thousands of area farmers to descend upon the village. Thousands of policemen subsequently clashed with enraged en·rage tr.v. en·raged, en·rag·ing, en·rag·es To put into a rage; infuriate. [Middle English *enragen, from Old French enrager : en-, causative pref. residents, leaving more than 50 buses overturned, police cars smashed, and more than 100 people injured. International newspapers and numerous websites report that two women were also killed by police vehicles. Journalists leaving the area after the riot were detained de·tain tr.v. de·tained, de·tain·ing, de·tains 1. To keep from proceeding; delay or retard. 2. To keep in custody or temporary confinement: and interrogated by government officials. Non-sanctioned political organizing is banned by China's government, and state-run media sources rarely report on any protests. However, official government statistics cited in Outlook magazine note that 3 million people took part in a total of 58,000 protests in 2003, a 15-percent increase over the previous year. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion