Last month, parents in Wugang city of Hunan Province staged a protest after 1,300 children were found to have unsafe levels of lead in their blood. They say it was caused by pollution from a local manganese smelting plant.

Last week, the Wugang City government posted this notice on its website. It claims that so-called “stubborn Falun Gong members” are using the environmental pollution incident to spread rumors and incite public unrest.

Residents who received this notice were angry. They told us that there are no Falun Gong practitioners where they live.

[Ms. Dai, Simachong Township Resident]:
“The notice was ripped up by those who were angry after they read it. The (government) can say whatever it likes. But when I read the notice I was very disgruntled. I don’t know how to describe my feeling. It talked about Falun Gong, stubborn individuals, it made no sense at all.”

A resident in Wenping Township says this is just a scare tactic by authorities.

[Mr. Xiao, Wenping Township Resident]:
“I saw online that the government has issued a notice saying that they’re Falun Gong.”

[Reporter]:
“Why do you think [the government] did that?”

[Mr. Xiao, Wenping Township Resident]:
“Probably to scare the public, to scare the public, saying that you’re outlawed.”

NTD News contacted the Wugang City government, but no one would answer our questions or explain why they had implicated Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, a popular spiritual practice, was banned by the Chinese communist regime in 1999. The regime has been severely persecuting Falun Gong adherents ever since.

Gail Rachlin, a spokeswoman for the Falun Dafa Information Center, says local officials are probably embarrassed about the incident—and they’re using Falun Gong as a scapegoat to avoid taking responsibility themselves.