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R 040852Z AUG 09
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 GUANGZHOU 000466 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, OES/PCI, DRL, AND EAP/PD 
STATE ALSO PASS USTR FOR CHINA OFFICE 
EPA FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR PGOV PHUM SOCI SENV ECON CH
SUBJECT: Rule of Law Interference Snapshot:   Pingnan Green HomeQs 
On-going Struggle 
 
REF: Guangzhou 162 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000466  001.2 OF 004 
 
¶1.   (SBU)  Summary and Comment: The emergence and continued growth 
of civil society organizations in China over the past decade appears 
to support claims that the country's leadership grasps the need to 
allow greater room for social action and public expression.  Still, 
the challenges these groups face as they attempt to organize and 
seek enforcement of legislative or judicial remedies also serve to 
highlight continued bureaucratic interference with the rule of law 
in China.  As a case study, this cable describes the experience of 
the Pingnan Green Home, a small environment-related civil society 
organization organized by a "barefoot" doctor and a group of farmers 
in northern Fujian.  The Pingnan Green Home has waged a 15-year 
struggle against a chemical plant that has polluted surrounding 
farmland.   Although the group has garnered some sympathy at the 
national level and brought national and local media scrutiny to 
bear, the Pingnan Green Home has been unable to deliver what the 
Pingnan farmers need--a sufficiently clean environment to allow them 
to once again make their livelihoods off the land.  Unwilling to 
enforce court orders, local officials have effectively scuttled rule 
of law protections available to the farmers.   End Summary and 
Comment. 
 
With Loss of Livelihood and Health, Farmers Organize 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  In the early 1990s, authorities in Fujian's capital city of 
Fuzhou, determined that Rong Ping Chemical Company, a heavily 
polluting, state-run chemical factory should be relocated away from 
Fuzhou.  They looked for a site, still in Fujian, but away from 
major population centers and eventually settled on Pingnan, a small 
"town" with a population of approximately 100,000 people.  Desperate 
to boost the town's lagging economy andQ-some locals suspect--line 
their own pocketbooks, Pingnan officials said they would welcome the 
Rong Ping factory to the community.  Shortly afterwards in 1993, the 
factory, which claims to be the largest gun-powder manufacturer in 
Asia, producing over 15,000 tons of potassium chlorate and 20,000 
tons of sodium chlorate each year, was relocated to Pingnan on a 
site immediately adjacent to residences and farmland. 
 
¶3.  (U)  Beginning immediately after the factory's relocation, 
Pingnan's farmers noticed a sharp deterioration in the area's air 
quality.  Whereas Pingnan's air before had been clear, a thick smog 
began to blanket the area.  Farmers observed that crops, other 
plants, and trees began to exhibit unusual symptoms.  Some withered 
away and died; others developed deformities or exhibited stunted 
growth.  Fish disappeared from the local streams.  The economic 
impact on the farmers was immediate and direct.  Consumers would not 
buy their "deformed" produce.  Still, the farmers persevered, 
relying increasingly on the more resilient crops and the bamboo 
groves.  Gradually, however, even these crops and the bamboo groves 
began to die. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  At the same time, increasing numbers of Pingnan's 
residents began to complain of respiratory ailments.  Zhang 
Changjian (protect), a "barefoot doctor" or general practitioner who 
had been practicing in the area for more than two decades was 
struck, not only by the increase in respiratory ailments, but also 
by a sharp increase in the number of deaths of local residents 
attributable to cancer.  Mr. Zhang began compiling a record 
documenting the increased numbers of health-related problems in 
Pingnan.  Zhang's records show that between 1990-1994, one out of 
thirteen (or 7.7 %) of the deaths in Pingnan were attributed to 
cancer.  But by the period from 1999-2002, 21 out of 29 (or 72.4%) 
of Pingnan's deaths were attributed to cancer.  Utilizing this data, 
Zhang founded the Pingnan Green Home, a local, environment civil 
society organization to represent the farmers and local residents in 
pursuing claims against the chemical factory. 
 
Officials Suppress Protests, Legal Claims 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Solidly aligned in support of the factory, local 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000466  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
officials, according to Zhang, actively sought to suppress efforts 
by the Pingnan Green Home to protest or seek compensation.  In late 
1993, Zhang and supporters of the Pingnan Green Home initiated 
demonstrations against the factory, the local government, and the 
local Environmental Protection Bureau.  In response, officials had 
local police closely monitor the activities of the group and use 
physical force against the demonstrators to discourage 
participation.  Money contributed in support of the farmers and 
Pingnan Green Home by individuals from surrounding towns and 
villages was confiscated and retained by the local Urban 
Administration Department. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  According to Zhang, when journalists from the Fujian 
Daily and Fujian TV expressed interest in reporting on the Pingnan 
case, they were prohibited from doing so by the Fujian Information 
Office.  A story about Zhang and the Pingnan Green Home was first 
published in March 2002, almost a decade after the first protests, 
by a publication called "Fang Yuan Fa Zhi" (Square-Round Rule of 
Law) published by the China Supreme People's Procuratorate. 
Following this report, former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji reportedly 
requested that the relevant authorities provide assistance in 
helping Pingnan residents obtain justice. Accordingly, the Legal Aid 
Center of the China University of Political Science and Law agreed 
to provide a lawyer and legal assistance to Pingnan Green Home. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  In July 2002, China's General Administration of 
Environmental Protection carried out an investigation of the Rong 
Ping factory.  The investigation resulted in the factory being 
listed as one of China's fifty-five most serious sources of 
pollution.  In April 2003, a story about the Pingnan farmers was 
carried on China Central TV's (CCTV) most critical news program 
"News Probe."  Zhang reports that apparently to prevent local 
residents from watching the program, the entire town's electricity 
supply was cut off from 17:50 to 23:25 that day in what local 
authorities described as an "accident."  The blackout, itself, 
generated additional media interest, and a subsequent report was 
broadcast by Fujian TV on May 10, 2003.  In August 2003, the Pingnan 
case was listed by the State General Administration of Environmental 
Protection as one of China's ten most critical environmental 
pollution cases. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  In 2004, apparently as a form of retribution for Zhang's 
role in leading the environmental protests and the increasingly 
negative media reporting about the factory, the local Public Health 
Bureau ordered Zhang's infirmary to close.  Nevertheless, with 
support from the Legal Aid Center, the Pingnan Green Home 
successfully appealed an initial unfavorable ruling issued by the 
People's Middle Court of Ningde City.  In November 2005, the Fujian 
People's High Court ruled that the Rong Ping factory should pay an 
indemnification totaling RMB 684,178.20 (roughly US$82,800 in 2005 
dollars) to the 1,721 families in the village, or RMB 60 (US$7.26) 
per head. This meager compensation was supposedly intended to cover 
economic lossesQincluding damage to crops-- as well as 
health-related damages.  The Fujian People's High Court also ordered 
that the factory stop polluting the surrounding areas and 
immediately install a waste filter to stop the pollutants from being 
released into the nearby river. 
 
¶9.  (U)  Note:  According to local farmers, prior to the factory's 
coming to Pingnan, an able farmer in Pingnan, working a 100-square 
meter plot of land, could earn approximately 10,000 RMB per year 
(approximately US$1,462), not including additional income generated 
by making bamboo handicrafts.  On the other hand, the factory 
employees approximately 200 people, paying an average annual salary 
of 9,600 RMB (or US$1,405).  End note. 
 
Notwithstanding Legal Victory, Victims Receive Little 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  According to the farmers, local authorities were not 
pleased by the High Court's verdict, and they utilized their 
influence with the local court charged with administering the High 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000466  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
Court-ordered compensation.  Claiming that the damage award would be 
utilized as a "Natural Disaster Relief Fund" to be distributed to 
local residents in the future, the Pingnan Township Court refused to 
release the compensation award.  In addition, the Fujian People's 
Middle Court refused to release litigation and evidence verification 
deposits that had been submitted by the Pingnan litigants.  When 
local residents protested the lower court's action, the court 
claimed that the litigants, led by Zhang, had failed to submit a 
compensation plan that satisfied all local residents. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  Xu Kezhu, a professor and deputy director of the Legal 
Aid Center of the China University of Political Science and Law 
learned of the local resident's difficulty in receiving the 
court-ordered compensation.  He volunteered his legal services, and 
after battling the lower court for almost two years, in September 
2007, the compensation award of RMB 60 per person was finally 
released to the local residents.  The litigation deposit was not 
released by the Fujian People's Middle Court until July 2008. 
During this same period, local authorities jailed Zhang, jobless 
following the ordered closure of his clinic, for a couple of days in 
October 2006 and fined him RMB 5,000 as penalty for his protest 
activities. 
 
Pollution Continues Unabated 
---------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  Following the court verdict, local residents observed 
that the Rong Ping factory air and water pollution discharges 
appeared to diminish.  This was short-lived, however, as they soon 
noticed that levels of air and water pollution again began to 
worsen.  They discovered that the factory resumed discharging 
pollutants directly into the river by building a second drain next 
to the original drain in which the court-ordered filter had been 
installed.  This allowed the factory to save on the cost of 
operating the waste filter and avoid triggering the alarm system 
installed inside the waste filter.  Except when monitored, the 
company resumed smokestack emissions as before.  Comment:  During a 
recent visit in May, factory emissions visibly decreased soon after 
consulate personnel arrived in Pingnan to meet with the Pingnan 
Green Home.  End comment. 
 
¶13.  (SBU)  Local residents were even more astonished to learn that 
local authorities had approved plans for a major expansion of the 
Rong Ping plant--an expansion that would allow the factory to build 
a pollution-prone hydrogen peroxide manufacturing facility.  Upon 
learning of the expansion plan, Zhang led a group of local residents 
to Beijing, where they described their concerns to the Ministry of 
Environmental Protection in January 2009.  Although the Ministry 
placed a temporary hold on the expansion plans, construction work at 
the site continues to progress.  The villagers also collected 
evidence to prove that the factory is again discharging pollutants 
directly into the river.  While the local residents would like to 
pursue additional legal action against the factory, their volunteer 
legal advisors, apparently fatigued, have been reluctant to continue 
to assist. 
 
Fifteen Years Later:  Still No Remedy 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU)  At present, Pingnan Green Home supporters are highly 
frustrated.  Although they have "won" a court case against the 
factory, the factory continues to pollute and is moving forward with 
expansion plans.  Local authorities effectively stalled, for years, 
the payment of the meager court-ordered compensation.  The 
residents' appeals to higher authorities regarding the factory's 
continuing violations continue to either go unanswered or without a 
satisfactory answer.  Because factory emissions continue to damage 
crops and plants, farmers are unable to grow produce that they can 
sell.  Many residents have been forced to leave the town to hunt for 
jobs elsewhere. 
 
¶15.  (SBU)  Mr. Zhang reports that he has been unsuccessful thus far 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000466  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
in obtaining permission for his infirmary to reopen.  He remains 
unemployed.  In late 2007, the civil society organization set up to 
represent the farmers, the Pingnan Green Home, was classified as an 
illegal organization.  Pingnan residents have recently organized a 
new civil society organization, The Pingnan Ecological Agricultural 
Cooperative, which they hope to use as an educational center 
promoting environmental protection. 
 
¶16.  (SBU)  Comment:  The dedication of Pingnan Green Home 
supporters is representative of the efforts of many individuals in 
Fujian who work tirelessly through grassroots civil society 
organizations to address social problems.  Although these groups are 
making headway, they work in an environment where there is often 
considerable bureaucratic resistance and in which the legal system 
is subject to overt, official interference.  Despite his best Erin 
Brockovich-type efforts, Zhang remains unable to script a happy 
ending for the Pingnan farmers.  End comment. 
 
GOLDBECK