Pollution has become a major concern in China. (Photo : Getty Images)
The mayor of a city in central China has asked for calm after thousands of people launched a protest against a waste incineration project over concerns it would cause pollution and health problems.
Tens of thousands of "mass incidents"--a common euphemism for protests in China--occur in the country each year, spurred by grievances over issues ranging from corruption and illegal land grabs, unnerving the stability-obsessed ruling Communist Party.
City authorities of Xiantao, in Hubei Province, said on Sunday it would suspend the project but protests continued on Monday.
"We urge the people of the city to be peaceful and rational, and not to believe rumors, not to organize, join in, or be bystanders at illegal gatherings," Mayor Zhou Wenxia said in a rare public address that was recorded and spread quickly in social media.
Approximately 10,000 people took to the streets on Sunday, according to state media reports, even after the local government said it planned to suspend the project on Sunday morning.
Xiantao residents told Reuters on Monday that the protests continued, with several protesters injured in clashes with riot police.
"There are hundreds of police here because of the demonstrations," a resident said under the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
In a statement, authorities called on protesters to refrain from taking "extreme actions" and making rumors.
A city public security official was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying it was forbidden to use SMS messages and the Internet to organize "illegal gatherings" and demonstrations.
Zhou added that the protesters continued to engage in "irrational actions" like gathering in public in spite of the project's suspension.
A Xiantao official said that the proposed plant's emissions of the high toxic chemical dioxin would have been in line with E.U. standards, according to state media.
Chemical plants have sparked several protests in China in recent years resulting from increasing concerns over smog and environmental degradation, spurred by the country's rapid economic growth.
In June earlier this year, thousands protested in Jinshan, around 60 km away from neighboring Shanghai, against plans to construct a chemical plant.
