law - Harbin citizen sues company after polution

Suing has already become a popular activity in China and now the company causing the benzene polution of the Songhua river causing Harbin to close down, has to face angry citizens, writes Aljazeera.

Ding Ning lodged a claim for damages in court against Jilin PetroChemical on Friday, his lawyer, Hu Fengbin, said in an interview..."Whoever brought risk to everyone's life should take the blame. I hope to use the law to exercise citizen's rights - to send a warning to the perpetrators - so we can avoid a repeat of such problems," Ding told Xinhua news agency.

He only claims 15 renminbi or USD 1. 86, but when millions of citizens follow this example, it might set an interesting precedent. Since the company is a state-owned company, its seems rather unlikely the government itself would sue it for the now enormous damages, although the China Environmental News suggests that individuals could face legal action.
Local officials initially tried to hide the extent of the disaster for the public. After an initial silence, now China's media disclose extensively what has happened, writes the Financial Times.
Then, Russia might take legal action against China, the same China Environmental News writes.