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| The demonstrators stormed government buildings in protest |
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Authorities
in China say a project to build a waste water pipeline in the city of Qidong
has been scrapped after a protest over pollution.
Demonstrators
took to the streets of the city, north of Shanghai, and ransacked local
government offices.
They said
the pipeline, proposed as part of a paper-making company, would pollute their
coastal waters.
China has
seen rising anger about environmental damage after three decades of rapid
economic growth.
The
thousands of protesters overturned cars as well as storming the local
government offices and throwing documents from the windows.
Items which
the protesters allege are often received as bribes by officials - such as wine
- were also seized from the offices, reports say.
Official
'stripped'
One local
official was even reported to have been stripped of his shirt by angry
protesters.
Users of
the Chinese microblogging site Weibo said that having found luxury items in the
government offices, demonstrators wanted to know what brand of clothing local
Party Secretary Sun Jianhua was wearing.
On
discovering it was an expensive Italian brand, they are said to have stripped
him to the waist and tried to make him wear shirt which bore an anti-pollution
slogan.
Local
authorities had tried to appease local anger by suspending construction on the
plant, but protesters rejected this.
"If
the government really wanted to stop this project, they should have done it
right from the beginning. At this point they are too late," 17-year-old
protester Xi Feng told Reuters.
Earlier
this month plans for a copper plant in Sichuan province were halted after
thousands clashed with police.
Demonstrators
in such cases are becoming more outspoken, and their protests better organised
and more effective.
Analysts
say this is a measure of social tensions in China as the Communist Party
prepares for a leadership transition later this year.
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