On October 27, a lawyer met with environmental volunteer Zhang Wenbin, who is being criminally detained. On November 6, the lawyer applied for another meeting, but the Wanzai police refused, citing that he was being interrogated. According to a report by Rights Defense Network on November 12, Zhang Wenbin remains detained at the Wanzai County Detention Center.
On October 21, Zhang Wenbin, a volunteer who has long been engaged in environmental supervision and runs the WeChat public account "Zero-Distance Pollution Task Force," was taken away by police from Wanzai County, Yichun, Jiangxi, in Urumqi. Online reports say he is suspected of extortion; colleagues suspect it is related to his exposure of environmental violations by Wanzai enterprises in 2023. No official announcement has been made yet.
On October 20, police in Wanzai County, Jiangxi, criminally detained environmental volunteers Zhang Wenbin, Luo Wenbin, and Xiong Qu on suspicion of extortion. Zhang Wenbin was taken away across provinces in Urumqi. Zhang had previously exposed pollution risks at the Nanshi Lithium Industry lithium slag dump in 2023, after which the company repaired the dump. Sources say the detention is related to the exposure. Another volunteer who intended to go to Wanzai for investigation was dissuaded by police via phone.