China

December 2005 | Risk Summary

Water in the north-eastern Chinese city of Harbin has been declared safe after a toxic chemical leak. Running water was switched off to the city’s 3.8mn people for five days after 100 tonnes of benzene spilled from a petrochemicals plant into the Songhua River. The authorities initially declared that the water supply was being turned off for maintenance work, but were eventually forced to come clean. The case highlights the problem of official secrecy in China, and follows the SARS outbreak of 2003 when a reluctance by the government to reveal more details about the virus allowed the disease to

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