Eco warriors: China drops controversial pipeline after violent protest (PHOTOS)

Published: 28 July, 2012, 12:02
Edited: 28 July, 2012, 17:14

China’s government has bowed down to public pressure and abandoned an unpopular industrial waste pipeline project, just hours after a street protest against it, which turned violent.

China’s coastal city of Qidong saw a thousands-strong march of angry protesters clash with police and rampage in a city government building. They were opposing an industrial construction project, which they fear would poison region’s water supply.

Saturday morning’s demonstration is the latest in a series of environmental protests sparked by plans to construct a pipeline from a paper mill located some 110 kilometer from the city, which would carry industrial waste into the sea.

The protest involved more than 1,000 activists, according to Reuters estimates. AFP cites the eco-protesters themselves, who claimed they were numbered in the tens of thousands. The demonstrators clashed with police forces trying to maintain order, injuring at least several of the officers. They also overthrew several cars in their way.

A group of demonstrators broke into the Qidong government building and ransacked it. The angry mob smashed computers, damaged furniture and threw out documents from the windows. They also reportedly looted items of value, including bottles of liquor and cartons of cigarettes – which Chinese officials often receive as bribes.

FULL STORY: http://www.rt.com/news/china-qidong-pipeline-protest-281/