More than 1,000 people protested for a second day in central China on Thursday over pollution from a chemical plant that they say has sickened locals and poisoned surrounding farmlands, residents said.

Residents of the town of Zhentou in Hunan province demonstrated outside local government headquarters and a police station, demanding greater compensation for pollution from the Xianhe Chemical Plant, protesters said.

The protesters also said they came out to reject recent government health checks conducted on locals that officials said showed the situation was not serious. [Link]

Usually the information reported from these sorts of protests is sketchy. In this case, however, the international PR firm hired by the factory released the following transcript of a conversation (translated from the original Chinese) between the leader of the protest and the representative of the PR agency, Mr. Nick Naylor.

Nick Naylor: I appreciate your speaking to me. The Xianhe Chemical Plant is an important part of this community, which is why it has spared no expense to ensure that it meets all safety standards enforced by the local government.

Protest Leader: That is completely untrue. We are protesting today because we want everyone to know that this factory spews out death. It is making our residents gravely ill.

Naylor: Sir, let me ask you this. Are you a medical doctor?

Leader: No, I am not.

Naylor: Are you some kind of scientific researcher?

Leader: No.

Naylor: Well, then, you’re hardly a credible expert, are you?

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