Work on chemical plant to be halted following protests

Authorities in east China said yesterday that work on a chemical plant would be halted after thousands of locals clashed with police during a protest over fears the factory would pollute the region.

In the latest environmental unrest to erupt in China, police at Ningbo city in Zhejiang province fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators on Saturday night after six days of protests over the project, protesters and online reports said.

“Following research with investors, Ningbo city has decided: (1) not to go ahead with the PX (chemical factory) project and (2) to halt advance work on the chemical refining project,” the government of Ningbo’s Zhenhai said on its website.

The announcement came after police and demonstrators clashed in riots on Saturday night, while up to a thousand protesters gathered at the Zhenhai government yesterday and marched through the district, said protesters.

“In recent days, some unreasonable activities, such as illegal gatherings and rioting, have occurred, seriously impairing the normal work and life of the people and severely impacting overall development and stability,” said an earlier statement on the Zhenhai government website.

At an emergency meeting on Saturday, local Communist Party officials ordered police to “maintain stability in accordance with law”, rhetoric that often signals a heavy-handed crackdown.

Photographs posted on the www.molihua.org website, which monitors social unrest, showed protesters facing off against thousands of riot police as security forces streamed into Ningbo’s Zhenhai district where the 55.9bn yuan (€6.8bn) plant is to be located.

Rioting erupted amid rumours that police had beaten to death a local college student — a rumour police immediately denied.

“Those people circulating fabricated rumours that ‘police have beaten to death a college student’ have had an odious social impact,” said Zhenhai police.