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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Anti-Pollution Riot In China |
| 2005-04-13 |
| After antipollution riots broke out in a village in the eastern province of Zhejiang earlier this week, witnesses said Wednesday that the local people had taken control of the scene and had no intention of surrendering to the police. Thousand took part in the rioting last Sunday, overturning police cars and driving away officers who were trying to stop elderly villagers from protesting against pollution from nearby factories. Police officers outside the village were reportedly blocking reporters from entering the scene, but local people reached by telephone said villagers controlled the riot area. "The villagers will not give up if there is no concrete action to move the factories away," said a villager named Lu, who witnessed part of the confrontation and refused to give his full name. "The crowd is growing. There are at least 50,000 or 60,000 people." Lu said two elderly women had been wounded when a police vehicle ran them over. Villagers said they had tried in vain for two years to curb pollution from chemical plants in a nearby industrial park, and had sent representatives to both Beijing and the provincial capital. The state-controlled media blamed local agitators for the riot. N.B.: Riots in China are odd affairs, often complaints to the central government that local government is ignoring central government edicts. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |