BEIJING – Police fired tear gas to break up demonstrations yesterday against a proposed power plant in a southern China town, where protests have escalated into clashes with police this week and officials tried to calm tempers by suspending the project.
Riot police were out in force and blocked entrances to Haimen, aiming tear gas canisters at lines of protesters on motorbikes to quell the latest outbreak of unrest in the southern province of Guangdong, an economic powerhouse.
Haimen, a coastal town of 120,000 people, is about 130km (81 miles) east of Wukan, where a 10-day siege of villagers protesting against a “land grab” ended on Wednesday after the provincial government brokered a deal.
Protests in China have become relatively common over corruption, pollution, wages and land grabs that local-level officials justify in the name of development. Chinese experts put the number of “mass incidents”, as such protests are known, at about 90,000 a year in recent years.
The grip of Communist Party rule is not directly threatened by such bursts of unrest, but officials fear they could coalesce into broader, more organised challenges to their power.
The Haimen tensions have flared for three days as residents protest against plans for another coal-fired power plant, some turning over cars and throwing bricks in clashes with police.
On Thursday, riot police sent tear gas into an open space to hold back a large band of protesters on motorbikes, according to footage shown on Hong Kong’s cable TV. As smoke billowed towards the crowd, some protesters could be seen riding away quickly.
A witness earlier saw about 100 men on motorbikes gathered to watch the wall of police, armed with batons and shields, who were blocking the highway near a large, shuttered petrol station.
“What place in the world builds two power plants within one kilometre?” said one of the Haimen residents, surnamed Cai, as he watched police lines just a few hundred metres away.
“The factories are hazardous to our health. Our fish are dying and there are so many people who’ve got cancer,” he said.
“We thought of protesting outside the government office but we know none of them has listened to us. So we had no choice but to block the highway. The police beat up so many of the protesters in the past two days.”
At one point yesterday, Haimen residents screamed and surged forward when a riot policeman, waving his baton in the air, charged towards a man on a motorcycle who had been riding towards the police blockade on the highway.
“This place is very chaotic. I think it’s best for you to leave immediately,” a man who identified himself as a Shantou government official told a Reuters reporter.
Officials said on Wednesday they would suspend construction on the project, but residents refused to back down, demanding the plan be scrapped completely.
The Haimen unrest is the latest challenge for Guangdong party chief Wang Yang, a contender for promotion to the highest echelons of the Communist Party in a leadership transition in late 2012.
China’s top newspaper yesterday praised the defusing of tensions in nearby Wukan, suggesting the handling of the dispute would not necessarily hurt Wangs prospects. – (Reuters)