[Broadcast on 4 March 2006]
Tragedy struck at the Qitaihe Dongfeng coal mine in Heilongjiang province on 27 November last year, with a huge gas explosion. According to the State Administration of Work Safety, 171 miners trapped at the coal face died in the accident. In programmes broadcast over the past two weeks, I have talked with several family members of those killed in this accident. The following is a continuation of a conversation I had with the mother of one of the miners. She mentioned first that just prior to the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, the local government had said that it would give the families some assistance, but they did not receive anything.
Mother of miner: Let's not talk about it. We had heard the local government would give us something, but it has all been taken away by insiders. What can you expect?
Han Dongfang: What kinds of things?
Mother of miner: Things like noodles. It was New Year's. There wasn't even a big bag of noodles or a big bag of rice. Whoever went got something. When I got there, there was nothing left.
Han: Didn't you get anything?
Mother of miner: What do you mean no one got anything? Lots of people got something. Some people got three or four. Where do you think those things have gone to?
Han: Are those who got three or four portions also the families of the victims?
Mother of miner: Who knows. I heard some "insiders" saying that. Yes. They have good connections with them and let them go and get something. But these are just petty things, little petty issues. We didn't fight with him about it. Soon, this old body won't be able to move so good. Ah what am I going to do then?
Han: How old are you now?
Mother of miner: I'm 50. My husband is 60. So last year [after the accident happened], there were six or seven families and we went together to see them and to get those "gifts of condolence" that they were handing out. We went to see what there was. One of the insiders said, "One helps another." I didn't understand what he was saying. What does "one helps another" mean? The union contributed a little, and the Community Welfare Office gave a little. We are all neighbours here and we are all getting on. We only have few people here in the neighbourhood. There are so many people getting that from the mine company. Some were given 200 yuan. But we didn't get one cent. It was all insiders. They even didn’t ask us. We got angry and we talked to those who were sorting out the rice? Where has everything gone? They talked about those things but we haven't even seen any of it. The government sent the things to the community centre, sent over there.
Han: What did they say?
Mother of miner: They said: "One helps another." Now, that is not the least bit reasonable. Many people never received this kind of assistance and "gifts of condolence" from the local government. Whoever you talked to, they were really frustrated. It is unreasonable. When we're old, how are we going to do this? Where can we get them?
The woman continued with her story. Her son who had died in the mine explosion had only been 23 at the time of the explosion. He was working to earn the tuition money for his two sisters who were attending university or he wouldn't have been down in the mine.
Mother of miner: My son was 23.
Han: Had he started a family of his own?
Mother of miner: No. The state has agreed that all will get the same, 210,000 [yuan]. Everyone's the same. It's been decided. What else can we do?
Han: In the beginning did you tell them that you were not satisfied or make any other demands?
Mother of miner: Even if we had, they wouldn't have paid any attention. We have two in our family in university right now. She said everyone will get the same. No demands [will be accepted].
Han: You still have two children in university?
Mother of miner: Yes. They are studying in Hubei. We made our requests, but they didn't grant any of them.
Han: These two are boys or...
Mother of miner: Two sisters.
Han: Two girls!
Mother of miner: Yes
Han: How long have they been studying?
Mother of miner: They have been there a year and a half.
Han: So they still have another two years to go?
Mother of miner: One year's tuition is about 20,000 yuan!
Han: Is that for both of them?
Mother of miner: No, just one. Daily expenses and food costs a lot. They didn't grant our requests. They said that 200 people had all agreed, so what other demands could we make.
Han: Are you yourself working?
Mother of miner: We just do a little farming. There is nothing else we can do.
Han: You don't have a job?
Mother of miner: No, I don't have a job. Where is there a job for me?
Han: How about your husband?
Mother of miner: He was injured on the job and now stays at home.
Han: Was that in the mines?
Mother of miner: No.
Han: So your son was a contract worker?
Mother of miner: Yes, a contract worker.
Han: How many years did he work in the mine?
Mother of miner: He was there for half a year.
Han: Why did he go to work mining coal?
Mother of miner: We had two going to university, and farming doesn't bring you any money.
Han: So it was up to big brother to earn money for his sisters?
Mother of miner: That's right. But the mine company still hasn’t paid him.
Han: How far is it from your place to the mine?
Mother of miner: It's a bit far.
Han: Are there others in your village that have also lost relatives in the accident?
Mother of miner: There are two or three others.
After telling about the accident, she related the tricks and scare tactics that the government's Work Unit used to get the families to accept and sign the compensation agreement. But those who received this inhumane treatment, when they met with foreign reporters who had come to follow up on this story, they were afraid to tell the truth. They did not want to give a bad impression of their country.
Mother of miner: You don't know. These families were all scared stiff. If you didn't sign within 24 hours, you wouldn't get any money. These people were frightened stupid. They didn't know what to do. If not, no one would have been in such a hurry to sign.
Han: Who came to see you in the beginning and how did they talk to you?
Mother of miner: They just said they were from the head office. The central government has issued its paper and the content of that was that it should be all the same, at 200,000. If you take longer than 24 hours, you will lose this 10,000. They were forcing you to take care of this quickly. What he meant was it should be all the same. Those senior officers had set it all the same. That is what I said. Suppose he lives to be fucking 80 to 90 years old, who will take care of him? What will he do? They say that it's a lump sum payment, nothing more. If I was to take you around, we could find lots of families and you could ask them what they think. You don't know. There was a group that came here. They were the fucking yellow hairs, with white beards, that kind of wet, yellow hair. It was some foreigners. They came hear and everyone here was afraid. They didn't talk to them. They said they had come to China to write bad things about our country. My group didn't talk to them.
Han: When did this group come?
Mother of miner: In the first few days after the accident. They were foreigners with yellow hair and yellow eyes. They weren't Chinese and we couldn't understand anything they said. He said he wanted to come here to do some interviews and understand the situation. But this group here said they were afraid to talk to them, because they weren't Chinese and they wanted to spread bad news about China abroad.
The woman said that after the accident, someone from Taiwan donated 800,000 yuan, but the money had been held back. Nothing like that was distributed to the families. In the end the families would have to accept the situation and only then were the funds distributed.
Mother of miner: This is not a small thing. This group here was very confused. They don't know anything. He can fool you easily. Taiwan donated 800,000 yuan for the people here to split. He gave out all but 1,000 yuan. This group didn't agree and went to look for him and then got it back. Someone said that somebody from Hong Kong also donated money, but we haven't seen that.
Lastly, this mother of one young miner who died in the accident said that because the responsibility for this accident lay with the mining company, she would not give up the fight to see the mine face up to its responsibilities.
Mother of miner: I have only one son and now that he's gone, what am I going to do? Who's going to take care of the family? They give you a little money and then forget about you. Is that right? If the system isn't strict enough, then there will be so many people. It’s so frightening. The officials these days really take advantage of their position and don't care about anything else.