Parents detained for violent protest over lead pollution

POLICE in central China detained 15 parents for a violent protest over factory pollution that left hundreds of children with lead poisoning, and accused them of links to the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, villagers said yesterday.

Villagers mocked the accusation, saying authorities were using the charge to take revenge against parents involved in the August 8 unrest in Hunan province’s Wenping township, that broke out after more than 1,300 children were poisoned by emissions from a manganese processing plant.

Falun Gong practitioners are relentlessly persecuted by Chinese authorities.

Anger is growing inChina over public safety scandals in which children have been the main victims. The ruling Communist Party is worried mass protests will threaten social stability and challenge its grip on power.

The Wugang city public security bureau, which oversees Wenping, issued a notice saying “cult members with ulterior motives” led a few villagers to block roads, attack government offices and damage public property, resident Dai Zuoyi said.

Police said 15 people were being held and urged the “Falun Gong practitioners to turn themselves in as soon as possible.”

“When I saw this notice, I laughed till my stomach hurt,” Dai said. “There have never been any Falun Gong followers in Wenping. This is clearly a reprisal attack against villagers.”

A notice posted on the website of the Wugang city government last week said Chinese and foreign Falun Gong members were spreading false rumours and “instigating the public to cause trouble” in response to the lead poisoning.

Dai said his brother-in-law, Li Changye, was among the parents detained. Li, 40, was among hundreds of residents who blocked roads leading to the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant, Dai said. Both Dai and Li’s sons, aged five months and six years, have excessive levels of lead in their blood.