Chinese pig thug cops fire tear-gas and beat protesters!

HAIMEN, China (PNN) - December 20, 2011 - Pig thug cops fired tear gas and beat demonstrators who stormed government buildings in southern China on Tuesday to protest against a power plant in the latest violent unrest to hit the country.

Residents of Haimen, a town in the province of Guangdong, are demanding the coal-fired plant be moved, saying it is damaging their health, demonstrators told AFP by telephone. They said a 15-year-old boy had been killed and more than 100 others badly beaten by pig thug cops, although this could not be independently confirmed.

AFP calls to the local government in the town of Haimen went unanswered. A woman contacted by telephone at the local public security bureau denied there was unrest in the town.

Haimen is only around 70 miles northeast of Wukan village, where residents are in open revolt against the local government after what they say are years of illegal land grabs.

There is no indication that the protests are related, but they are part of an upsurge in social unrest in Guangdong, China’s wealthiest province and the country’s manufacturing hub.

Photos posted online purportedly of the protest scene showed dozens of pig thug cops armed with batons and shields lined up along a stretch of road.

Other photos showed protesters surrounding a government building with dozens standing on the roof of the entrance.

“They are still firing tear gas right now, lots of people are crying and they are on the ground,” a protester told AFP, estimating that 100 to 200 pig thug cops had confronted residents.

“If they continue, we will come out tomorrow and keep protesting. They are starting to beat people now,” he said.

Another demonstrator said that 10,000 residents had blocked a highway into the town to “get attention” after the local government refused to see them.

“We are protesting because we want the power plant to move away. Lots of local people have illnesses such as cancer,” a resident said.