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Beijing residents protest power-line construction

More than 100 people staged a rare protest in Beijing yesterday against the construction near their homes of a high-voltage power line that will provide electricity for the 2008 Olympics.

Under the watchful eye of about a dozen police officers, residents held a 20m-long banner reading "Reject High-Voltage Lines, Reject Leukemia," and expressed concern over the health effects if the line is completed. The power line would pass about 100m from their residential complex and straddle its children's playground.

"Our kids would be playing right under the high-voltage line. Do you think that is safe?" said a resident who gave only his surname, Yang.

Protesters said they bought flats in the middle-class complex, just a short drive from Beijing's Olympic Park, for the area's open spaces, only to see unsightly power towers spring up.

"We are surrounded. We are afraid to take our children outside," a woman surnamed Chen said.

The development houses about 900 people. Residents said the new towers closest to their homes went up quickly last week with no prior notice, and the government has not responded to their complaints.
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