Local government sources are reporting that Daofu County in Sichuan Province has quieted down, after 300 villagers rose up in violence to protest the exploitation of a local lead and zinc mine.

 

Some residents in the county's Xiede Township gathered at a lead and zinc mine near Nongge Mountain on May 27 to protest against its use, saying "the exploitation would damage the sacred mountain and thus bring about natural disasters."

 

Although the conflict thankfully caused no casualties, mining equipment and vehicles belonging to the developers and the local government were smashed.

 

To ease the tension, working teams were dispatched from Daofu County and by Tibetan Autonomous Ganzi Prefecture to persuade villagers to follow the law, said Li Chunlan, magistrate of Daofu County.

 

However, a rumor surfaced that a villager had been detained which sparked the ire of local residents and drove them to attack the working teams, destroying cars and lobbed stones at intervening police.

 

With two government workers being seriously injured in the attack, police moved in and detained several villagers. After being interrogated, several of them were released with five remaining under arrest.

 

To date, shops in Daofu County have reopened and local farmers have returned to their fields.  

 

A local monk commented that "there were three sacred mountains near the Nongge Mountain, but Nongge is not a scared one."

 

Cering Rongb, a villager who took part in the protest confessed that, "The wording of the exploitation's damage to the sacred mountain is just an excuse, and the real aim of their protest was to seek bigger benefits from the mine's exploitation."

 

Li stated that the local government is mulling over a compensation package that would share benefits from the mine with local residents.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 26, 2007)