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The mass protest occurred in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province on August 31. (The Epoch Times)
The officials were trapped in a vehicle. (The Epoch Times)
Local residents protest at the wastewater treatment plant for resolution of the pollution problem. (The Epoch Times)
Thousands of villagers in a southeast Chinese coastal province protested against environmental pollution from a sewage plant on Aug. 31.
Over 10,000 villagers from Quanzhou City, Fengwei Town, Fujian Province, confronted 2,000 armed police on Monday afternoon, according to local residents. The target of their demonstration was a wastewater treatment plant that they say emits foul smells and pollutes the air and water. The demonstration turned violent when police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse the crowd.
“Two town officials had a run-in with the protesters at about two or three in the afternoon. After one of the officials struck a woman, the villagers besieged him. When the officials got into a vehicle and tried to drive away, the crowd pushed it over,” a villager identifying himself as Qiu told The Epoch Times in a telephone interview.
As villagers refused to release the men, more police were called to disperse crowd. Streets were closed, and more police cars called. Word of the mass protest spread quickly, however, and more than 10,000 villagers in Fengwei and surrounding towns had gathered to protest. Finally, police had to leave the scene, Qiu explained.
Qiu also said that two policemen fired warning shots and tear gas grenades.
Epoch Times reporters had previously obtained many phone numbers in the area, including that of Qiu, from other local people, because those on the receiving end of provincial-level corruption in China look to international media to tell their stories.
Another villager, calling himself Liu, said, “There were a couple of thousand armed police, riot police, and other police officers dispatched. They fired shots to warn the protesters. One child was hit by a tear gas canister.”
At least 10 were injured when the demonstrations turned violent and riot police fired warning shots, according to an AP report.
Residents have argued that the plant not only has serious negative effects on the environment but also causes health problems.
“The long-standing pollution threatens residents’ health, causing people to contract cancer. Two people have died from cancer recently,” Qiu said. “The foul odor emitted from the plant is so unbearable when you smell it.”
According to local media, the conflict was triggered by a local wastewater treatment plant that had been causing terrible odors, and leaking into other areas. Villagers in the surrounding towns had been gathering and protesting since Aug. 19.
Mass riots and protests sparked by environmental problems have been increasing by one third year on year, according to China’s Environmental Protection Minister Zhou Shengxian.
