A Wild Guest | The situation is a bit complicated again

On the evening of June 30, artist Nut Brother, who had just finished a return visit to Xiaohaotu Township, Yulin, Shaanxi, went missing in Kunming, and his whereabouts are unknown. In the past week, he has successively exposed the harm caused by the pollution of natural gas wells and coal gangue in Xiaohaotu Township to the health of villagers.

On the same evening, Zheng Hongbin, the curator who has been deeply involved with him in the public art action against environmental pollution in Xiaohaotu since 2018, was also taken away by the police in Xi’an and is currently unreachable.

This situation is a bit complicated again, and of course, this is not the first time Nut Brother has gone missing. In the past few years of following Nut Brother, this is the fourth time I know of that he has “disappeared.”

The first time was in Xiaohaotu, when Nut Brother was trying to rescue the informant Wu Yanrong (the old Wu was arrested across provinces for reporting the environmental pollution in Xiaohaotu), he was taken away by a certain department of Yulin City, and an agreement was reached that as long as Nut Brother did not return to Xiaohaotu, Lao Wu could be released.

The second time was the “Catch the Doll Plan”, which called for a solution to the problem of migrant children in Shenzhen’s largest urban village being unable to attend school due to demolition. He was taken away by a certain police station in Shenzhen, and a police chief pointed at Nut Brother and scolded: You artists are all trash, and this sentence was also put in the poster of our documentary.

The third time was to investigate the survival of the endangered animal, the Sichuan-Shaanxi schizothorax, according to research data, the Sichuan-Shaanxi schizothorax may be another national first-class protected animal that is about to become extinct due to human activities in the past two decades after the extinction of the Yangtze River sturgeon. He was taken away by the police for not complying with epidemic prevention policies during the investigation in Qinghai.

The fourth time was what Nut Brother said, a project to defend the rights of financial fraud groups, he was arrested across provinces by the police station in his hometown. In order to make Nut Brother behave, the local government even threatened Nut Brother that if he continued to “cause trouble”, it would affect the problem of his brother’s children studying.

Nut Brother is actually a bit introverted. In these years, because he has been defending the rights of the people at the bottom and calling for the solution of environmental problems, he has been threatened and disappeared countless times, and he rarely takes the initiative to talk about these experiences.

In the projects I have followed, such as the Xiaohaotu water pollution incident, I have encountered too many incredible and unreasonable obstructions. The camera was snatched away; in order not to allow the heavy metal band to perform, and it was a private performance in the villagers’ courtyard, the local cultural supervision department threatened the villagers on the one hand and confiscated the instruments to forcibly stop it; eight cars followed us during the visit to the villagers, saying they were there to protect us; the staff of the local coal mine falsely reported the police to take us away, and as a result, we really called the police, and they immediately became cowardly; the middleman of the coal mine found Nut Brother in the hotel and said that as long as he did not continue to investigate the environmental problems, he was willing to bribe 200,000 yuan, but unexpectedly, this was also filmed by our camera; a certain department in Xiaohaotu Township, in order not to let Nut Brother return, even contracted the hotel we stayed in for a year, I really want to ask where this money came from; someone also called to threaten, if you continue to investigate, you will not know how you will die.

What I didn’t expect was that, seven years after the Xiaohaotu water pollution incident that began in 2018, the local practices have not changed at all, it is hard to imagine that this is happening in China in the 21st century.

I’m wondering why it’s Xiaohaotu again?

The Xiaohaotu water pollution incident in 2018 was reported by domestic media. What was the final solution? The local government invited me to film the villagers laying water pipes, and government officials guaranteed in front of the camera that they would solve the water pollution problem and promised to install water purifiers for each household. The irony is that these water purifiers are three-no products, the phone number of the manufacturer is fake, and the address is also fake.

In the past seven years, Nut Brother has actually secretly revisited Xiaohaotu several times. Why secretly? Because he had reached an agreement with a certain local department before, as long as he did not return to Xiaohaotu, he could release Lao Wu, the informant who reported the pollution. One time when he revisited Xiaohaotu, Nut Brother launched the “Raise the White Flag” plan. Since the local government was so authoritarian and domineering, then we would surrender to you, surrender to the coal mine, and surrender to the gas well. The ridiculous thing is that they wouldn’t even allow surrender, repeatedly driving away and snatching the white flag, and even booked the room next to the hotel we stayed in, 24-hour monitoring. The villagers of Xiaohaotu Township all received the news that they could not accept interviews from the media and any suspicious persons, and they should report any suspicious persons immediately.

If I guess the reason for this disappearance, I think it is the action of Nut Brother’s return visit to Xiaohaotu this time. Nut Brother went back secretly again this time, and didn’t even notify the director of the documentary who was following him. I think he might want to be more low-key, and it’s easy to be exposed when there are too many people.

This artistic behavior is [#Shaanxi Cancer Village 28 Sheep Surrender with White Flags]()#

Starting in 2004, Sinopec North China Bureau drilled and extracted gas in Xiaohaotu Township, Yulin, Shaanxi, and now more than 800 gas wells are spread throughout the township. In 2018, the Xiaohaotu water pollution incident was exposed: people got strange diseases, sheep died, and a large area of willows died. From 2019, in Group 6 of Xiaohaotu Village, Xiaohaotu Township, cancer, cerebral infarction, and myocardial infarction occurred frequently. By 2024, 21 people had serious illnesses in just 5 years, and 7 people have died so far. The whole village fell into panic, and the villagers found that, “At this rate, our group will be extinct in less than 5 years.” So, they went to petition, to the environmental protection bureau, and to call the 12345 mayor’s hotline… All these efforts had no result.

Like lambs to be slaughtered, they have to surrender to (            ).

In fact, as a former media person, I once suggested to Nut Brother that he should not touch Sinopec, it’s very difficult.

But Nut Brother still did it without fear of power, I think he still couldn’t let go of the villagers of Xiaohaotu Township. These desperate villagers found Nut Brother and hoped that he could continue to call for a solution to the environmental problems in the area. As a former media person, I can think that this time he may be taken away for investigation on the grounds of spreading rumors. Therefore, I would also like to ask the local government to announce the actual number of villagers in Group 6 of Xiaohaotu Village who have suffered from cancer, cerebral infarction, and myocardial infarction over the years, as well as the number of seriously ill and deaths. Whether it is a “cancer village”, I think the actual data can explain everything.

Over the years, we have visited the villagers one after another, and we have indeed found that the incidence of cerebral infarction and myocardial infarction in the area is very high. Could this all be accidental? Not to mention what will happen to the villagers who drink polluted water, we have seen a large number of bird carcasses, because they drank the local lake water, and the birds had difficulty even standing up. Of course, the solution of the local enterprise is to arrange a staff member to specifically pick up the bird carcasses and concentrate them for burial and destruction.

Perhaps in the eyes of local enterprises and the government, Nut Brother is a troublemaker, why he keeps staring at the pollution issue. First of all, I want to say that every citizen has the right to supervise, and we have the right to supervise and report environmental pollution. Nut Brother is only exercising the legitimate rights that a citizen should have. Secondly, Nut Brother did not profit in any of the reports of pollution, but instead, he has been poor and destitute in these years, and he doesn’t even have a fixed residence, most of the time he stays at friends’ houses. Third, have the local enterprises and the government properly solved the pollution problem? Seven years have passed, and the pollution problem still exists. In the past, they knew to provide tap water and install three-no water purifiers for the villagers in the face of public opinion pressure. Now they directly arrest people?

Here I appeal that, no matter which department took away Nut Brother and Hongbin, please release the information to avoid the worry of Nut Brother’s family and friends. The reason for the investigation must be announced to the public, and the results of the investigation must be announced!

Nut Brother is a well-known performance artist who is famous overseas. He was one of the Top Ten Figures of China in 2015,

His experience has already attracted the attention of society and the media. I also hope that the villagers of Xiaohaotu Township can unite. This is not the first time that Nut Brother has disappeared because he spoke out for you. A person from out of town can persist for seven years to defend your rights. I believe he truly loves this land, and there are still a few simple and kind villagers who can support him to continue fighting. Finally, please the villagers of Xiaohaotu Township also take up the legal weapons to defend their rights. After all, you still have to survive on this land, and you must fight to the end against any environmental problems that threaten your basic survival!

Finally, I suggest that the local government also take away the 28 sheep that raised the white flags for investigation, maybe they want to say something more.