(Broadcast on January 14, 2003)

A spokesperson from the Liaoyang Intermediate People’s Court confirmed on January 14 that the case of Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang, the representatives of the Liaoyang Ferroalloy Factory workers, who have been charged with subversion , will come to trial on January 15 at 8:30am. The trial, it was said, would be open to the public. Yet the court’s reply to my inquiry on January 13 was that the trial date had not been set, and that the court wasstill waiting for the advice of the leadership. According to Clause 5, Article 151 of the “Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China”, in open trial cases, the summary of the case, the name of the defendant, and the time and venue of the trial should be announced three days before the trial. On January 14, the spokesperson of Liaoyang Intermediate People’s Court told me on the phone that she was not sure whether this open trial had been publicly announced.

Court:

The date of trial has been fixed – tomorrow at 8:30pm.

Han Dongfang [Han]:

Is it an open trial?

Court:

Yes, it is.

Han:

Has the notice of this open trial been posted outside the court?

Court:

Well… that procedure… it is not my duty. That issue… I’m not sure.

Han:

How’s the registration now?

Court:

What kind of registration?

Han:

I mean the registration of visitors?

Court:

Oh… this… we…we have issued the visitor’s permits.

Han;

How many permits have you issued?

Court:

This is not my job.

Han:

How many visitors are allowed?

Court:

Well…, you wanna join in?

Han:

I do, but definitely I can’t come there. How many people can the courtroom accommodate?

Court:

Two to three hundred.

Han:

If citizens in Liaoyang want to come there, where should they apply?

Court:

They will know this themselves. Everyone knows that this is an open trial – everyone knows it. Those who want to listen to the proceedings…those workers have come already.

Han:

Did they walk in to apply themselves, or did the court issue the permits to the designated persons only?

Court:

Both.

Han:

Did any workers from the Ferroalloy Factory applied for the visitor’s permits?

Court:

I’m not sure about this. We have a department to deal with this… to issue visitor’s permits. All permits have been issued.

Han:

Which department knows more about this?

Court:

Why did you ask such a question? Any Ferroalloy workers?… I think so!

Han:

I want to ask …

Court:

Yes! Yes! There are [Ferroalloy workers]!

Han:

Which number should I call for the application of the permits? Do you know this?

Court:

Well…we….we don’t’ have a direct line for this.

A retrenched worker of the Liaoyang Chemical Factory said that he would go to the court:

Retrenched Worker:

Sure I’ll go there. Nonsense, isn’t it?

Han:

What?

Retrenched Worker:

I mean the government is talking about nonsense, isn’t it?

Han:

Nonsense?

Retrenched Worker:

Well, would they [Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang] be powerful enough to overthrow the state? That’s fucking bullshit!

Han:

You’ve heard about their case, right?

Retrenched Worker:

Yes, someone told me on the phone.

Han:

Who gave you the call?

Retrenched Worker

Someone from the Ferroalloy Factory.

Han:

Why did he call you?

Retrenched Worker:

He asked me if I would be going.

Han:

Will you go to the court tomorrow?

Retrenched Worker:

Tomorrow the trial will start at 8:30am. Tomorrow I will go there.

Han:

You will go?

Retrenched Worker:

Yeah.

The Party Secretary of the Liaoyang Ferroalloy Factory, who is also the Chairman of the local office of the All-China Federation of Trade Union, told me that as the Union Chairman, he should be in the same line with the Party:

Union Chairman:

That’s normal!

Han:

That’s just a normal case?

Union Chairman:

Right.

Han:

Why?

Union Chairman:

Well, in this issue, from the perspective of the Party and the Government, our factory has worked fairly well in solving the problem. Wage arrears, medical fees, etc… and social and medical insurance and pensions have all been resolved. So the serving workers are satisfied; the government will try to allocate jobs to the unemployed, and the social and medical insurance and the basic living allowances have been secured. Now the workers have got all their money back!

Han:

When was the back pay made?

Union Chairman:

Before December 31, 2002

Han:

Can we say that the petitions of the workers last year were quite useful?

Union Chairman:

(Laugh) Mr Han, your opinion is…rather… political. (Laugh) It doesn’t mean that “the worker’s petition is very useful”, but a small group of workers – just a small group among seven thousand plus workers in the Ferroalloy Factory – just two to three hundred petitioned the government. This means that for we, China, the Party and the Government, the democratization of socialism is marching towards a civilized end, that means democracy and freedom. The atmosphere is getting more and more lenient. People can express their views freely and autonomously. As a unionchairman, I can only say that we should be in the same line with the Party and the Government. We believe that the Party and the Government will have a correct resolution to the problem!

However, an unemployed worker from the Ferroalloy Factory told me that the government still does not allow them to apply for the unemployment allowance:

Unemployed worker:

Well, we’ve also joined the activities. More than two thousand Ferroalloy workers joined the petition. Two to three thousand.

Han:

I’ve just called the union in the Factory, and the chairman said that only two to three hundred of workers joined it.

Unemployed Worker:

That’s impossible. It’s two to three thousand! Bankruptcy is a catastrophe to the workers. Let me tell you – we know nothing about politics, since we don’t get much education.. For us workers we just want to have a job – that’s the first thing. Another thing is that they should give allowances to the unemployed. No jobs for two years – we should have the allowances, but now we receive nothing. And I can’t think of any reason for this.

This unemployed worker from the Ferroalloy Factory continued to point out that many Ferroalloy Factory workers would gather at the court:

Unemployed Worker:

Needless to say, many people will go to the court, because a lot of people care about them. It is related to everyone, isn’t it? It has been two years since the factory went bankrupt. In my opinion, the petition is normal, reasonable and lawful – it didn’t subvert the state and the authority. It is impossible to overthrow the government like this! How could one worker overthrow the government? Further, he isn’t capable of overthrowing the government. Who are we anyway?…Even if he had been ambitious, it wouldn’t have been possible for him to overthrow the government.

The mother of a retrenched worker from the Liaoyang Carton Factory told me that the government leadership of the Liaoyang City brought a charge of subversion against the worker representatives of the Ferroalloy Factory because they wanted to cover up their own corruption.

Worker’s Mother:

I’m from Liaoyang. I will tell you the truth – I’m not afraid of [the authorities]. The worker’s representatives are all nice people; they are telling the truth, but they have been caught! [The government] brings a false charge against them – I say it is a false charge. Actually people from the Ferroalloy Factory… when they went to the city government, I heard that old men and old women [protesters] had been sworn at and even beaten up [by the Public Security officers]. They accused them of subversion, subvert what government? They are saying nonsense, they said that these people are collaborating with foreign countries, that they gang up together, and that they are politically motivated…they are just workers… the Ferroalloy Factory didn’t pay them – the money has been embezzled by a few officials. Why? These officials…Liaoyang city officials are the most corrupt – they are all corrupt. They receive gifts, they get the money, and then they oppress us people.