Chinese villagers detained for seeking medical assistance

Tragedies occur everyday. Thankfully tragedy is not that commonplace in most civilized nations; it occurs on a micro level (e.g. perhaps a family member passes), but overall, life is good and fair, as it should be. This sadly is not the case with China, which has a long history of not treating its poor very well.

“What do you mean?” you ask. Let us begin by traveling to Jiahe, Hunan Province, China, where approximately six months ago, 53 lead-poisoning victims en route to a treatment facility were detained, arrested, and have yet, as of March 2010, to be released.

Pictured above is one of hundreds of lead-poisoned children in Jiahe, which sits next to Tenda Corporation’s Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant. The plant, which has since been closed, was ejected from wealthier territories because of excess pollution, but later found a home in Jiahe due to the negligence of local government officials, who, despite being warned beforehand about the potential toxic waste that could ensue, gladly accepted the plant into their midst.

According to The Guardian (UK), a study conducted in February “revealed that 250 of the 297 children in the village had excess levels of lead in their blood.” Included among the victims are the children of Liao Mingxiu, one of the aforementioned villagers arrested for attempting to seek medical assistance for their families.

Police in Jiahe arrested Liao and 52 others because they mistakenly believed that the group of villagers was planning a protest. That’s understandable. However, the villagers were never released, even after their stories were confirmed. Ou Shudong, chairman of the local People’s Congress, defended the indefinite confinement, saying, “The villagers’ intentions were unclear. Even if they were going for a medical examination, they should have informed the government.”

According to the Chinese media, in fact, the government basically claimed that keeping the villagers detained “served the purpose of public education for the majority.” As to what sort of education they are referring to, we are sadly at a loss.

What we do know for certain is that within the past year, there have been countless cases of lead poisoning in China, especially in regard to children:

#1. 250 children in Jiahe county, Hunan Province
#2. 615 children in Fengxiang county, Shaanxi Province
#3. 1345 children in Wugang city, Hunan Province
#4. 1088 children in Jiyuan city, Henan provinc
#5. etc. etc. etc.

The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist (AACAP) reports that children with lead poisoning “may have problems with learning and reading, delayed growth, and hearing loss.” And at extremely high levels, lead poisoning can even lead to permanent brain damage and death.

LeadPoisoningVictimChild4 Chinese Villagers Detained for Seeking Medical Assistance picture

What’s the moral of this story? Seeking medical assistance to save your children from the detrimental effects of lead poisoning is not only wrong, but it is also worthy of indeterminate confinement in a filthy prison.


/Weird Asia News/