Just learned that the well-known environmental protection volunteer Zhang Wenbin was taken away from Urumqi across provinces by Wanzai police in Yichun, Jiangxi.
The news comes from family and informed sources. As of now, there has been no official police report.
We collaborated five years ago. For the Zibo hot pot fish project, he was invited to participate in environmental research. I remember him as a low-key, professionally solid, reliable, and fearless person.
This is not the first time he has been in trouble due to pollution investigations.
In 2015, while photographing a sewage outlet in the Wanquan River near Peking University East Gate in Beijing, he was taken away by local police.
In 2019, after the “3・21” particularly major explosion accident in Xiangshui, Jiangsu, he was summoned and investigated by the police during his on-site research. The Beijing News reported at the time that Zhang Wenbin was summoned by the Chengdong Police Station of the Xiangshui County Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and left the police station around 2 p.m. that day.
In 2023, while investigating pollution at the Xiegou Coal Mine in Xing County, Luliang, Shanxi, he was beaten by factory staff. The assailant, Wu, was later administratively detained and fined.
On the morning of October 20, 2026, Urumqi. He lost contact again.
The family initially thought he was missing and reported it to the police. They learned from the police system that he was taken away across provinces by the Wanzai County Public Security Bureau in Yichun, Jiangxi.
Subsequently, the family received a call from the police, informing them that Zhang Wenbin had been criminally detained on suspicion of extortion and asking the family to send clothes. It is expected that he will be escorted back to Wanzai around October 24.
Many people's first reaction is whether it is related to the Wanzai lithium mine pollution investigation he participated in three years ago.
Public information shows that Wanzai County is a concentrated area for the Yichun lithium mining industry, and pollution problems are indeed officially recorded:
In 2022, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment inspection found that Jiangxi Nanshi Lithium New Materials Co., Ltd. in Wanzai County had problems such as excessive thallium emissions and incomplete environmental protection facilities;
From the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, the thallium pollution incident in the Jinjiang River basin attracted attention. It was confirmed that there were illegal dumping of lithium slag and unqualified disposal in the area;
Subsequently, Yichun carried out a special rectification campaign, imposing administrative penalties on more than ten enterprises, and transferring 43 people to the public security organs for investigation for suspected environmental pollution crimes. Wanzai is one of the key affected areas.
This is all verifiable official information.
However, there is currently no evidence to confirm whether this arrest is directly related to the pollution investigation at that time.
Many people are concerned about how long it takes to drive from Urumqi to Wanzai.
The entire highway is about 3,700 kilometers. In an extreme state where two people take turns driving and rest minimally, it takes about 40 hours to arrive.
However, police escort across provinces is a completely different pace with strict operational regulations.
The actual daily driving time is usually controlled at 8-10 hours, with mandatory rest every 4 hours, and long-distance driving is generally avoided at night. Calculated, the net driving distance per day is about 800 kilometers.
Adding the time for handling procedures and handover locally before departure, and the time for stopping for inspection and rest along the way, a distance of 3,700 kilometers would take 4 to 5 days at a normal pace.
He was controlled on the morning of October 20 and is expected to arrive in Wanzai on the 24th.
An insider said that he has been doing frontline environmental research for more than a decade, often traveling, and is tanned and dark. He is tall and thin, steady, lives a simple life, and has never been married.
He has followed up on many pollution cases, some of which were later supervised by environmental protection departments, and some were reported by mainstream media.
It is said that during the period before the incident, his family was arranging blind dates for him.
He has now been taken away, and there will be no results for a while.
His friends have taken the opportunity to issue a special marriage proposal notice for him.
If there is a girl who doesn't mind his profession and is willing to learn more.
You can contact his friend “奔跑吧土拨鼠” (Running Marmot): WeChat ID: zhongjieheian2019
