'The water is poison': Chinese activist spends life protecting polluted lake

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Environmental activist Zhang Zhengxiang has successfully faced down hundreds of companies on the banks of one of China's most polluted lakes.

"When I was a child, we could see the bottom of the lake. When I was thirsty, I drank the water from the lake – we used it for cooking," he said.It can be risky work. In China, grassroots social movements are heavily suppressed by the government, and environmental activists and the lawyers that represent them have in the past faced stiff reprisals and even jail terms.

Beijing has invested more than ¥50bil to protect the lake, building dozens of treatment plants and diverting a river to supply it with fresh water.Zhang was born in a village by the water's shore and spent years living off the lake, eating its fish and fruits from the surrounding forest. China's decades of breakneck growth saw industrialists flock to the region's rich mining soil and natural resources. But the influx caused huge pollution.

"Local executives, the owners of mines and quarries whom he denounced... many people hate him," added Zhou.In 2002, the activist was badly injured when hit by an unlicensed truck while gathering evidence about an illegal quarry.He says he has suffered other attacks over the years."I'm not afraid. They are paper tigers and I am a steel tiger."

Zhang, who was lauded a"true ambassador of the environment" on the national TV show Inspiring China, says he is finally being listened to. Two decades ago, a quarter of national water monitoring stations reported water quality worse than the lowest grade.

 

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