Officials sent at least 3,000 riot police to stop a mass protest in southern China recently, after villagers took to the streets to try to block a power plant that they said would destroy fishing off the coast.
According to Sound of Hope Radio (SOH), a U.S.-based Chinese-language radio station, police took control of the village of Yinggehai in Hainan Province on Oct. 21. Villagers there depend on fishing to make a living.
More than one hundred were injured when the police clamped down on the protests, and a 13-year-old boy was beaten and could not be found, a resident told SOH. People fear that the boy may have been beaten to death, according to the resident.
Despite days of protests and violent suppression, local officials said they plan a ribbon cutting ceremony for the controversial coal plant between Oct. 26 and Oct. 28.
