Chinese dare officials to swim in polluted rivers

BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese businessman angry about a filthy river made an equally dirty dare: He'll give an environmental official about US$32,000 (S$ 39,660) just for swimming in the polluted waterway.

Local businessman Jin Zengmin posted on his microblog photos of a garbage-filled river in Rui'an city in the eastern province of Zhejiang. He dared the local environmental protection chief, Bao Zhenming, to swim in it for a prize of 200,000 yuan ($39,691).

The challenge, made Saturday, reflects growing frustration among the Chinese public over widespread pollution and lack of governmental action.

It quickly inspired at least one other offer: A posting Tuesday under an alias on an online forum offered a 300,000 yuan ($48,000) cash prize to the environmental protection chief in the nearby county of Cangnan if the official swam in polluted rivers there.