] Thousands of people rioted this week in a village in
] southeastern China, overturning police cars and driving
] away officers who had tried to stop elderly villagers
] protesting against pollution from nearby factories.
]
] By this afternoon, three days after the riot, witnesses
] say crowds had convened in Huaxi Village in Zhejiang
] Province to gawk at a tableau of destroyed police cars
] and shattered windows. Police officers outside the
] village were reportedly blocking reporters from entering
] the scene but local people, reached by telephone, said
] villagers controlled the riot area.

] "The air stinks from the factories," said a villager, Wang
] Yuehe. She said the local river was filled with pollutants
] that had contaminated surrounding farmland.

] "We can't grow our crops. The factories had promised to
] do a good environmental job, but they have done
] almost nothing."

NYT | Thousands of Chinese Villagers Protest Factory Pollution