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Summary Authorities in east China said Sunday work on a chemical plant would be halted.
In the latest environmental unrest to erupt in China, police at Ningbo city in Zhejiang province fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators 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 Ningbos 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 Sunday and marched through the district, protesters said.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 late Saturday local Communist Party officials ordered police to maintain stability in accordance with law, rhetoric that often signals a heavy-handed crackdown.Photos 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 Ningbos Zhenhai district where the 55.9 billion yuan ($8.9 billion) 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, Zhenhai police said in a posting on their microblog site.Following investigation it was found that a certain woman had spread the rumour, (she) will be dealt with in accordance with law. The police warn citizens not to believe rumours and not to spread them.Hong Kong media reports said numerous vehicles including police cars were overturned and several policemen injured when protesters attacked a Zhenhai police station with rocks and bricks.Government officials and police in Zhenhai refused to comment on the unrest when contacted by AFP, nor would they say if protests were continuing Sunday.According to one local in Zhenhai, who declined to be named, protesters gathered at the gates of the district government Sunday morning and then began a peaceful protest march through the district.
