Graham Land, Oct 23, 2012
More people power protests are under way in China against environmental degradation and human health risks. This time it’s on the beautiful tropical island of Hainan, the smallest province in the PRC.
The people of Hainan are no strangers to environmental controversy. I recently posted about award-winning citizen journalist and environmental activist Liu Futang going on trial, ostensibly for illegal publishing, but evidently for his writings exposing illegal forest clearing on Hainan.
Recently thousands of protestors have been demonstrating against a coal-fired power plant which is under construction in the town of Yinggehai. Police have been firing tear gas on protestors, injuring dozens. The protests became violent when a woman was injured, prompting the townsmen to retaliate with bricks and stones, according to media sources. Some of the injured have then been removed from hospitals by police. The town is basically on lock down.
From Radio Free Asia:
Right now there are police guarding all of the main streets, and they are stopping any vehicles from driving in the direction of the township government buildings. Local residents are being allowed into the town, but are being prevented from leaving. All of the shops have been shut since last Thursday, when the armed police arrived.–Yinggehai resident “Liu”
Back in March Yinggehai suffered a serious garbage problem on its beaches. Compare this picture from the People’s Daily Online with any Google Image search of Hainan beaches.
If the Chinese government has anything to learn from these protests its that they should start acting like their name suggests, the People’s Republic. You don’t force ugly, dangerous pollution in the name of economic growth and development on a fishing village located on a tropical island desperately hanging on to its environmental riches despite the impacts of tourism, pollution and deforestation. Besides, China is very new media savvy these days and any such people power protest and subsequent use of force by the police will echo throughout the country and beyond.
Perhaps the protests will succeed like those which occurred against a copper plant in Sichuan Province back in July.
From the Washington Post:
In recent months, at least two other large-scale environmental protests have forced local authorities to back down and, at least temporarily, suspend planned projects. But as the country’s ruling Communist Party approaches a sensitive and rare transition of leadership, officials are increasingly worried about such mass demonstrations.
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