This article is from Southern Metropolitan News. Thanks to Hegel Chong’s translation on his Reading China blog:
Over th past 15 years, Wu Lihong has been complaining about the pollution of Tai Lake. In 2005, he was selected as the outstanding environmentalist of China. But he was arrested for fraudulent recently. He was accused of extorting money from enterprises. This accusation is not made the first time. In the eyes of the local government and the polluters, Wu is an unscrupulous criminal.
“We environmental protection department sees environmentalists as families and allies. We don’t have any problem with them. We don’t see them as enemies. “said the vice-director of the Bureau of Environmental Protection. Previously banging on his desk, the chairperson of environment and resources committee said, “Wu Lihong is a law-abiding good citizen. What he did is good thing. His safety is endangered. You have to be responsible.” We should wait for the verdict of the court for knowing if Wu is a criminal. But from another perspective, in the environmental politics, we can see the power struggles between the political will of the central government, ordinary citizen’s legal rights and local interest groups. [Full Text]
