Southern China protest stretches to 4th day

By Hannah Belcher, CNN

updated 4:35 AM EST, Fri December 23, 2011

Police block villagers at the scene of environmental protests in the town of Haimen, Guangdong Province, on December 22, 2011.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Police detain news crew, cable network says
• Tear gas is used again on a large crowd of people
• Witnesses say some protesters have been beaten this week
• The protesters are concerned about pollution from a coal power plant

Beijing (CNN) -- Police fired tear gas Friday at demonstrators gathered for a fourth straight day of protests over a coal power plant in the southern Chinese town of Haimen and for the release of villagers detained during earlier scuffles with authorities.

Video from CNN affiliate i-CABLE News showed a large group of protestors running from clouds of tear gas on a main street. The Hong Kong-based cable network later reported that its reporting team was being detained by police.

Thousands of protestors gathered at the entrance of a local expressway, according to Mr. Zheng, a local resident who declined to give his full name for fear of being identified by authorities. Police blocked the expressway entrance several days ago and maintain a heavy presence there.

The protests began Tuesday morning when a group of residents went to the local government with a petition asking for the removal of the power plant and to stop the construction of a second.

When they did not get a response, they gathered on a street outside the government building. Some people were beaten.

Protests have been on the rise in China, where public displays of dissatisfaction are typically rare. The protests are driven by socioeconomic issues like income inequality, corruption, pollution and inflation, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_latest/~3/kMsVIwAN338/index.html

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