[Broadcast on 12 November 2005]
It is well known that there is a big difference between the retirement pay or pensions of those who have retired from an institutional organisation (i.e., public school, hospital, etc) and those that have retired from a state enterprise. This is a longstanding unresolved problem. In recent years, the financial pressures on the families of all retired workers have increased. One reason is that medical problems and costs rise dramatically as one ages. In addition, many retirees have seen their sons and daughters lose their jobs in state enterprises. With communication channels to the relevant authorities blocked in many cases, more and more retirees are choosing to take their complaints to the street and staging public demonstrations. They are demanding that the government increase the pensions paid to state enterprise retirees and reduce the gap between their payments and those of other institutions.
However, the local governments have neither the financial resources nor the political motivation to solve this problem. Local governments are failing to give the retiree groups straightforward answers and they have also put down their demonstrations with force. Thus, the conflict between these pensioners and their local government is worsening. Last Saturday, Chen Renjian, who is one of the workers' representatives leading the fight for a rise in pensioners' payment in Hangzhou explained part of the problem to us. The monthly pension payments are sufficient to cover the family's food bill, but these senior do not dare fall ill. Chen also said that a rising number of party members and cadres previously employed in these state-owned enterprises and previously afraid to join the workers' movement are no longer fearful of coming out and participating in this fight. Below is the second part of my conversation with Mr Chen.
Chen: Last year on the evening of October 13 they served me with a summons. The authorities said that I was disturbing public order and gave me this criminal charge. I was then put under surveillance. I couldn't go out.
Han Dongfang: Did you all agree to meet in front of the Municipal Government building?
Chen: Correct, correct.
Han: On the same day, the Public Security Bureau put you under surveillance, restricting your freedom and not letting you go out.
Chen: Correct. They wouldn't let me go.
Han: What reason did they give?
Chen: I was suspected of disturbing public order.
Han: Suspected you of disturbing public order? Did that entail any judicial action?
Chen: They gave me a summons. It was issued by the Public Security Bureau.
Han: Which did not permit you to leave the house?
Chen: That was the reason that they gave. I was under surveillance until noon on 15 October. From the 14th until the 15th.
Han: Were you confined to your own home or at the Public Security Bureau?
Chen: At my home.
Han: You were restricted in your freedom at home?
Chen: My freedom was restricted.
Han: What did the workers do on that day at the Municipal Government building?
Chen: The workers chanted some slogans and talked to the people around there about the issue and make friends with them.
Han: They talked to people about the issue and chanted slogans.
Chen: Correct, correct.
Han: There were two to three thousand of you. Did the municipal government send anyone out to talk to you?
Chen: In the end, we sent five people in to talk to them. According to the regulations governing petitions to government, only five people are permitted.
Han: So last year you sent representatives to talk to the government?
Chen: Correct, correct.
Han: Were you one of the representatives?
Chen: I didn't go. I was at home under surveillance. I wasn't allowed to participate.
Han: Why did they want to put you under surveillance?
Chen: He said I was the leader.
Han: He said you were the leader?
Chen: Leader or not, I can't say. We are all self-motivated. If everyone agrees to take action tomorrow, then we go. That's it.
Han: Did you (all) seek out (the authorities) after October last year?
Chen: We have gone to see them many times and each time it was just the (authorized) group of five.
Han: And after the October 2003 action, has your group seen any results?
Chen: No, we haven't.
Han: Have you received any kind of answer?
Chen: No, nothing.
Han: What demands did you present at that time?
Chen: We said that the (retirement) payments based on livelihood standard were unfair.
Han: And you are still asking for the same thing?
Chen: Yes, the same demands.
Han: That is to say, after October last year when two to three thousand people participated in a large demonstration, you have sent representatives to...
Chen: We have sent representatives and more than 1,000 of us have also gone out (to protest) several times.
Han: Was that a big one?
Chen: We have staged large demonstrations several times. Nothing has gone wrong. We all had a good chat. But this time, on June 2, the government took action.
Han: When was that?
Chen: June 2 this year.
Han: You all went out on June 2 this year?
Chen: I'm telling you just that. Some people were very badly beaten.
Han: How many of you came out on June 2?
Chen: About two thousand.
Han: What did you, all the workers, do at the scene on June 2?
Chen: On June 2, (the group) went to the municipal government, but I was (already) under surveillance, so I didn't go. They had received some information.
Han: You were again put under surveillance?
Chen: Yes, under surveillance. On the evening of June 1, there were three police vehicles at our front door with four to five people in them who kept the whole family under surveillance all night. They wouldn't let me take one step out of the house.
Han: What reason did they give?
Chen: They (the government) didn't want me to go to the Municipal government on June 2.
Han: Was there any legal (justification) procedure?
Chen: No
Han: so, there was no legal or judicial justification for that time on June 2? But in the end, did the workers go?
Chen: There were more than 2,000 people.
Han: Were there any other workers that were put under surveillance like you?
Chen: There were quite a few others.
Han: And they suspect that these others are also leaders?
Chen: Yes.
Han: So even though they had put several leaders under house arrest, the rest of the workers still went out?
Chen: Yes, they went out.
Han: If there were no leaders there that dared to speak for the workers, how did the government open up communication with the workers?
Chen: On June 2, the government started arresting people.
Han: How many people did they arrest?
Chen: The government used six public buses and (arrested) a few hundred people. They wore black clothing/suits. Our Public Security Bureau wears black clothing, but these suits did not have any emblems or badges on them.
Han: They were wearing black uniforms but they did not have emblems on them?
Chen: The government started arrested our retired workers and pushing them into these large buses and they hit the retirees.
Han: So they used force this time?
Chen: They used force. They beat one man named Zhang. They really beat him up.
Han: How badly was he beaten?
Chen: I tell you. All of us are at least over 60 and the oldest are over 70 years old. They took the retirees and put their hands behind their backs and pushed them into the cars.
Han: So these men who were dressed in black uniforms took the retirees and put their hands behind their backs and pushed them into the cars?
Chen: Yes, and one of them was a retiree named Zhang. His full name is Zhang Youzhou. He was standing on the side and spoke the truth. "You are terrible to treat retirees like this." But in the end, one of those in black grabbed him and threw him into one of the cars. They hit him on the legs with their sticks, knocking him to the ground. When Zhang called out for help, one of those in black covered Zhang's mouth with his hand. Zhang said, "Long live Mao Zedong!" The officer said, "If you say ‘Long live Mao Zedong' again, I'll beat you to death."
Han: Those wearing black uniforms talked like that?
Chen: They said, those wearing black uniforms said, we've been sent by Wong Guobing to take responsibility. Wong Guobing is the Hangzhou Party Secretary.
Han: They said they were sent by Wong Guobing?
Chen: Those wearing black uniforms said it.
Han: How old was the retiree named Zhang that got beaten up?
Chen: 67 years old
Han: Where did he retire from?
Chen: Hangzhou Silk. He was with us in Hangzhou Silk.
Han: Why has the government's attitude changed so suddenly?
Chen: Our Premier Wen Jiabao has just signed the regulations on petitions to the government which does not permit collective action with petitions. Only five representatives may come forth with each petition. The new regulations came into force on May 6.
Han: So the policy had already changed when your group came out on June 2?
Chen: After that time when we were beaten up, we've gone back to the city government, Public Security Bureau and the provincial government to negotiate.
Han: Did you send representatives to negotiate?
Chen: We have sent representatives to negotiate before; and we have written letters before. We worked on this for three months and they never gave us an answer.
Han: You've had no answer since the end of June?
Chen: They haven't answered us.
Han: What is it chiefly that you are asking for?
Chen: We would like them to find those that beat our members and to ask them for compensation and an apology.
Han: So you are looking for someone in the Public Security Bureau?
Chen: We have approached the Public Security Bureau and the (city) government.
Han: Haven't they said anything at all to you?
Chen: They haven't said a thing to us.
Han: But in the end they must give you an explanation?
Chen: They agreed to take up the case and after that they told us to wait. We have been waiting and we have not heard a thing.
Han: Did you hold any demonstrations after that?
Chen: We often submit petitions, or write letters to government.
Han: So you have written letters, submitted petitions and sent a group of representatives with the petitions?
Chen: That's right.
Han: And after that you have not held any large...
Chen: No, no.
Han: So what happened in October of this year?
Chen: We have sought justice for the beatings on June 2.
Han: Did you apply to hold a protest march?
Chen: We notified the Municipal Public Security Bureau, which wants a report on the march to be submitted by those in charge of the rally.
Han: Did you apply for permission for the previous collective action and demonstrations that you held?
Chen: You don't apply for permission for collective action.
Han: I mean did you apply for permission to stage the demonstration in from of the main door of the municipal government building?
Chen: You don't apply for permission for that. That was self motivated. We thought of it and then we went out and held our protest.
Han: So this time you thought that you would apply formally for permission to hold your rally?
Chen: Yes, there is the People's Republic of China Law on Public Rallies and Demonstrations. We sent our letter in accordance with that law on rallies.
Han: So you apply for permission to hold this rally?
Chen: Yes.
Han: When did you apply for permission?
Chen: We are supposed to receive an answer five days after we apply. But the government didn't answer us. They said a rally wasn't a good idea.
Han: When in October did you apply?
Chen: We apply about one week before October 15.
Han: Where did you send your application?
Chen: We sent it to the Municipal Public Security Bureau.
Han: What kind of answer did they give you?
Chen: They said it would endanger social law and order.
Han: Did they answer you on the spot?
Chen: They didn't answer it at that time. They accepted the letter of request. Three days later they called me and told me to come and get the answer.
Han: So then you went there to get the answer?
Chen: I went to pick it up.
Han: What did the government say?
Chen: They said that I was attempting a serious disruption of social order.
Han: It was a verbal answer.
Chen: It was written down. He gave me something written.
Han: What did it actually say?
Chen: Superiors said that it would seriously disrupt social order.
Han: So with that you knew it (the rally) was not permitted.
Han: So it said that this rally would seriously disrupt social order.
Chen: Correct, correct.
Han: So it was not approved.
Chen: Correct, correct.
Please join me next Saturday for a continuation of my conversation with Chen Renjian, a retired worker from Hangzhou.