Wife: Lawyer barred from jailed Chinese environmental activist

May 10, 2007, 10:35 GMT

Beijing - Chinese authorities have denied access to an environmental activist ever since his arrest a month ago, his wife said Thursday.

Neither she nor his attorney have been allowed to visit Wu Lihong in jail, Xu Jiehua said in Beijing. A reason was not given, she said, but added authorities advised her not to have any more contact with foreign media.

'They warned me that it would be better if I didn't speak any more to foreign journalists or it could hurt my husband,' Xu said.

Wu, 39, who has fought for years against the pollution of Taihu Lake in eastern China, was arrested April 13 in Yixing, a city on the lake.

Xu was shown a document about Wu's jailing that accused him of extortion. Xu denied the allegations.

Wu has worked for years to uncover illegal water pollution by businesses and has denounced the inaction of corrupt officials. He has repeatedly been arrested.

His most recent protest was against a declaration by the government in Beijing that recognized Yixing as a model city for environmental protection.

Wu argued that Yixing had failed to meet environmental protection standards, and Xu filed a claim Wednesday against the declaration in a Beijing court.

Wu grew up beside Taihu Lake, the third-largest freshwater lake in China, which is located in the Yangtze Delta plain on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

Taihu, called the 'Pearl of the Yangtze Delta,' is known for its fishing industry and as a tourist attraction because of its scenic beauty, but it is also highly polluted.

The lake provides drinking water to 40 million people in the thickly populated area despite it worsening pollution, caused by discharges of wastewater and from factories. The government itself has said 70 per cent of its water is contaminated.