In "beautiful China", local polluters still hold sway

TIANYING, China (Reuters) – In ramshackle semi-industrial Tianying in China's Anhui province, a state-owned lead smelter and foundry sits at the centre of town, behind high walls and secure gates that make it look more like a prison than the mainstay of the local economy. Decades of pollution from it and similar plants — Tianying once accounted for half of China's total lead output — has made much of the town's land uninhabitable and its water undrinkable. …