“Something really bad happened,” one of my colleagues said the moment she came into the office. “What?” “Thousands of angry people gathered at the Jinke Company. And they clashed with the security staff and as many as eight cars were smashed, among other things.” She said in one breath.

Jinke is a joint venture, which produces solar energy related silicon chips. It is located in Yuanhua Township, Haining, Zhejiang. It is commercially successful and is the biggest enterprise in Yuanhua. However, it causes great pollution to the areas nearby. It is said that in a recent physical check-up, 6 people were found to be leukemia patients, and 31 with cancer. And the rivers close to the factory were full of dead fish. So the people there were furious that they wanted an explanation and demanded the company be moved out of the area.

For 2 consecutive nights, that is the 15th and 16th of this month, people came to the factory and smashed things, and one of the officials is said to have been pulled around by the hair. When journalists came and tried to do the reporting, their cameras were grabbed and broken by some security guards. And large quantities of special police were deployed to keep order. In the process 4 police cars were overturned before the crowds were finally “persuaded” back home.

The local government held a press conference hurriedly on the afternoon of 17th, saying the news that there were 4 leukemia patients and 31 were found with cancer was not true. The real situation is, it announced, that 4 cancer patients in 2010 and 2 more in 2011 respectively. The spokesman said the company has been ordered to stop production. He also promised that the government pursues zero tolerance policy and that the government will listen to the villagers and will properly deal with this issue.

This incident may seem like an isolated accident. However, I believe it is something that will happen sooner or later, for the pollution problem is nothing new and almost everyone knows things are getting worse and worse. Governments at various levels all said they would take strong measures to keep it under control. What have they been doing? How did they carry out their sacred duties? The common practice is that the inspection team came and was invited into the most luxurious restaurant. After several bottles of wine or liquor were consumed, everything would be OK. Is it a bit too late for the local government to try to put out the “fires”? Why do we have to wait until things are out of control? Do we have to pay such a high price and suffer for the fast economic development?

Secondly, news transparency is far from satisfactory. Honestly, we’re still not very clear about the real situation there. Even if the figures about the incurable diseases are not true, can we just put the blame on somebody who was accused of spreading untrue news through the Internet? If the information flow were smooth, would there have been so many people who came to vent their anger? And why were the journalists not allowed to report the event? Is there anything fishy? We are entitled to know the truth!