Dozens Hold Land Protest in Beijing
Dozens Hold Land Protest in Beijing
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 24, 2008; 8:11 AM
The protesters from the city of Tianjin said government land seizures left them with no hope of buying new homes in the booming port city, 75 miles east of Beijing.
They said that in one case the government sold the valuable land in the center of the city to developers who later entered it in a Hong Kong auction to attract investors.
Wearing white headbands emblazoned with the slogan, “It’s illegal to forcefully demolish one’s house,” the group marched in a tight circle chanting, “We want to see the bureau head.”
While protests over property seizures and other nonpolitical issues have popped up occasionally in Beijing, the one Thursday was unusually large and well-organized.
Police and security guards attempted to prevent journalists filming the demonstration and tried to rip the headbands from the protesters’ heads. Protesters, who numbered around 50, marched outside the Construction Ministry in central Beijing for about two hours before being questioned and allowed to leave.
Spokesmen for the ministry did not immediately respond to faxed questions on the protesters’ claims.
“We regular citizens can’t go on anymore. What can we do? We have no house, our homes have been demolished and we can’t even petition,” said Wang Xueyi.
Wang, 57, said she had received $14,250 in compensation for her two-bedroom home in Tianjin’s central Hexi district in 2004. She showed reporters documents which said officials sold the land to a local developer. Calls to the company named were not answered Thursday.
Wang said her husband died shortly afterward from stress. She now lives with relatives.
“The compensation is not fair. People can’t afford to buy a new house with the money,” she said.
Wang said she was detained for more than 40 days last summer when she came to Beijing to petition the government.
A man who answered the phone at the Tianjin government spokesman’s office said he was not aware of the case. He refused to give his name as is common among Chinese bureaucrats.
Another demonstrator, Feng Xuying, said her house was demolished by the local government in another district in Tianjin, Xiqing, in June 2004. The woman, who said both she and her husband were jobless, said they received $5,750 in compensation.
Feng said the couple and their two daughters were afterward given space in a hospital building while the land on which their former home stood remains unoccupied.
“I have been petitioning in Tianjin and Beijing in order to get fair treatment, but no one with the government visited us,” she said.
Chemicals Taint Water in China
Chemicals Taint Water in China
Filed at 4:39 a.m. ET
BEIJING (AP) — Sulfuric acid leaked into the water supply from a chemical factory in central China, poisoning at least 26 villagers, authorities said Thursday.
An underground pipe broke at the factory — part of the Xiaoping coal mine complex in Banqiao town in Hunan province’s Chenxi county — causing the chemical leak into groundwater supplies, said Yang Changyou of the Chenxi information office.
”There are 26 people seriously poisoned and hospitalized, and more than 200 villagers are receiving free medical checkups, but no one died in the accident,” Yang said.
The government was providing free bottled water and water from four fire engines, he said, adding that authorities were trying to track and contain the leak.
Some of the most polluted cities in the world are in China, where many rivers and lakes are toxic after decades of breakneck industrial and economic growth. The State Environmental Protection Administration says about a quarter of all the water in China’s seven main river systems is too toxic for human contact.
A man who answered a call to the Chenxi County People’s Hospital said the hospital ”was packed with poisoned villagers, most of them are suffering vomiting, swollen faces and other symptoms.” He then hung up, saying he was ”too busy.” He didn’t give his name.
The factory, which was not listed in the phone directory, could not be immediately reached for comment. It was not clear if the factory and mine are private or state owned.
A 50-year-old construction worker in Banqiao said many residents were fleeing their villages because the chemical leak had polluted the water and air, and that only elderly people remained.
The man, surnamed Li, said villagers were suffering from bloated stomachs, swollen faces and itching skin. Li did not want to give his full name because he feared retribution by the local government.
According to the Beijing News, the local environment protection bureau launched an investigation into possible water supply pollution after a retired coal miner in the area complained his drinking water had turned yellow. The paper said as many as 1,000 people have been poisoned, but the claim could not be verified.
The initial investigation found the water was safe to drink, but 10 days later villagers living near the factory fell sick, the newspaper said. A second investigation found arsenic and tin and other metals in the water supply, it said.
Chinese regulators have difficulty enforcing environmental rules because local leaders are reluctant to take steps that might hurt industry or reduce jobs and tax revenues. Local environmental protection bureaus often report to their local governments.
China’s priority is developing the economy, the recent rapid growth of which has lifted millions out of poverty. Nevertheless, Beijing has started to show greater willingness to clean up the environment after a series of high-profile cases.
A chemical plant spewed tons of toxic nitrobenzene and other chemicals into northern China’s Songhua River in 2005, forcing authorities to temporarily halt supplies of running water to millions of people.
Last year, a lead-zinc spill in a river in the same province forced a one-day cut in water supplies to more than 200,000 people. Also, blue-green algae polluted eastern China’s Lake Taihu, which provides drinking water for millions.
NYT: Smoggy Beijing Plans to Cut Traffic by Half for Olympics, Paper Says
BEIJING — Faced with persistent air pollution despite promises to stage a green Olympics, Beijing is planning to reduce its motor traffic by half during the Games to improve air quality and ease traffic flow, according to a newspaper report on Wednesday.
The article, in The Beijing News, said the number of vehicles in the city was expected to reach 3.3 million by August, meaning that roughly 1.65 million cars and trucks would be pulled off roads each day. The city will dedicate lanes to Olympic traffic and increase public transportation with new shuttle buses to accommodate visitors and local residents, the article said.
Beijing officials have not announced Olympic contingency measures, but the newspaper said the traffic plan had been completed.
The city’s air pollution — ranked by some studies as among the worst in the world — is one of the most pressing challenges facing Olympic organizers, with fewer than 200 days until the opening ceremony on Aug. 8. Many Olympic teams plan to train outside the city to protect athletes. Besides whatever measures Beijing officials take to reduce pollution, factories throughout north China may face shutdowns during the Games.
“The task of controlling pollution and traffic congestion is arduous,” Guo Jinlong, the acting mayor of Beijing, said Sunday, the state media reported.
Traffic restrictions have been anticipated for the Olympics since last August, when Beijing conducted a four-day experiment that limited motorists to driving on alternate days, depending on whether the last number on their license plate was odd or even. That test eliminated more than one million vehicles each day, easing traffic but having a less substantial effect on air pollution. The Beijing News did not specify whether the odd-even system would be used for the Games.
For the past decade, Beijing has taken cleanup measures and officials have reported steady progress in reducing pollutants through the city’s “Blue Sky” air quality monitoring program. But a new report from an American environmental consultant has cast doubt on the validity of the program’s measurements and suggested that despite official reassurances, air quality has not improved in the past nine years.
Researchers at Peking University have blamed airborne particulate matter for contributing to roughly 25,000 premature deaths in Beijing in 2002.
Meanwhile, Olympic officials are facing another controversy after The Sunday Times of London reported that at least 10 workers had been killed in accidents during construction of the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest because of its ornate, latticed steel frame.
On Monday, a spokesman for Beijing’s Olympic organizing committee said the report was false. On Tuesday, the top work safety inspector for China, Li Yizhong, said he could not confirm the account in the newspaper. But Mr. Li, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, suggested that his agency might be willing to investigate.
“I do not know whether there have been any cover-ups,” he said, The Associated Press reported. “So we welcome the public to report any violations to authorities.”
德国记者在陈光诚家门前遭殴打 袁伟静欲探夫第四度受阻
2008.01.24
一月二十四日，正在临沂监狱服刑的山东盲人维权人士陈光诚的妻子袁伟静带着两岁多的女儿准备去探视丈夫，却被七个监控她的人强力拦截回家。德国电视一台四位记者赶到陈光诚东师古村家门前不远处，也遭监控人员殴打。下面是自由亚洲电台“心灵之旅”节目主持人张敏的采访报道。
一月24日早八点四十三分，德国电视一台四位记者（三男一女）赶到正在临沂监狱服刑的山东盲人维权人士陈光诚东师古村家门前，在约二十米远处，被监控陈光诚妻子袁伟静的人打倒在地，记者中的翻译喊“我们是外国媒体，我们有话可以跟你们讲！”
袁伟静从家里冲出来，看见监控者们每人手中都拿着约两拳大的石头，要砸向记者，并说“把他们砸死！”袁伟静奋力拦阻，棉衣被拽破，德国记者上车离开了村子。
这天是临沂监狱一月一次的“探视日”，袁伟静带着两岁多的女儿要去探视陈光诚，被七个监控她的人强力拦截回家。
袁伟静要求他们说明理由，对方说“领导不叫你去，不叫去就是不叫去！”袁问：“你凭什么？”对方答：“我就干这活，拿人钱，就干这不要脸的活儿”。
这是袁伟静连续第四个月被剥夺探视狱中丈夫的权利。
山东盲人维权人士陈光诚2005年揭露临沂地区在“计划生育”中使用暴力。 去年1月，在律师被殴打、证人被绑架不能出庭的情况下，陈光诚被以“故意毁坏财物罪和聚众扰乱交通秩序罪”判刑四年零三个月，现在临沂监狱服刑。
从2005年8月到现在，陈光诚的太太袁伟静一直处于不同形式的监控之中，近几个月被每班七人日夜看守软禁在家里。
1月7日袁伟静接到德国电视台记者电话，得知对方计划9日到访她家。8日夜里，警方威胁陈光诚的大哥，不准袁伟静见记者。9日，村内监控袁伟静的人增加到约四十人，并把守要道。德国记者闻讯取消了来访计划。直到1月13日晚，监控袁伟静的人数才逐渐减少，恢复到每班七人。
袁伟静说，近日村里正向每户村民发送“村规民约”，其中有“民主管理，乡风文明”、“严禁非法限制人身自由，要依法执政，学法、知法、守法，自觉维护法律的权威和尊严。。。”袁伟静家昨天刚收到一份。
以上是自由亚洲电台“心灵之旅”节目主持人张敏在美国首都华盛顿采访报道。
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