China scraps waste project after demonstrations
28 Jul 2012
Chinese officials scrapped an industrial waste pipeline project today after anti-pollution demonstrators occupied a government office in eastern China, destroyed computers and overturned cars.
The demonstration comes as the latest in a string of protests sparked by fears of environmental degradation and highlights the social tensions the government in Beijing is faced with as it approaches a leadership transition this year.
It was also the second project to be cancelled this month, as officials buckled under pressure from protests.
Zhang Guohua, city mayor of the eastern China city of Nantong, said in a statement the planned pipeline that would have drained water from a Japanese-owned paper factory into the sea near Qidong would be cancelled.
The decision came an hour after 1,000 protesters marched through the city of Qidong, about one hour north of Shanghai, and shouted slogans against the pipeline.
Many protesters, after entering the government's main building in the city, smashed computers, overturned desks and threw documents out the window as crowds cheered wildly. According to Reuters, five cars and one minibus were overturned and at least two police officers were dragged into the crowd and beaten severely.
