[Broadcast on 2 April 2003]

On 30 March 2003, a gas explosion occurred at the Mengjiagou Coalmine, claiming 24 lives in Fushun City, Liaoning. By 2 April, three days after the calamity, the mine manager and the local government have not approached the victims’ families to discuss compensation terms. When families went to the mine office, they were asked to sign a compensation agreement which had been prepared in advance. They gathered in the mine office wanting to talk the compensation terms over with the mine management and one female Yan Mingfang, the widow of a miner, reported that she had been beaten up by the police on guard at the mine. China Labour Bulletin [CLB] called to a private clinic to talk to her.

Nurse:

[to Yan] oh come, be quick, here is a reporter, you should tell him about your sufferings. [to CLB] hold on, her leg is injured, you had better wait a minute and I will help her to come over.

Han Dongfang [Han]:

Oh yes, thank you very much.

Nurse:

It is okay now!

Yan Mingfang told CLB that the people who attacked her were in police uniform.

Yan:

We went there to look for them [the mine management] and they [people in police uniforms] blocked us out. My elder brother was knocked down there and they asked me to help him up… then… then they hit me [cry]… and kicked me twice [cry]…

Han:

Excuse me, who hit you?

Yan:

They were in police uniform but I don’t know if they were real police.

Han:

So they dressed like police?

Yan:

Right.

Yan told CLB about her misery: Last September, her elder brother hurt his backbone when he was working in the pit and no compensation has yet been made. Her husband was killed in the blast on 30 March and after three days; she still did not know what the mine management would do for her. She said she went to the mine office on 2 April, trying to figure out the compensation terms of her husband and her injured brother’s. She wanted to return to Sichuan afterwards but for no apparent reason, she was beaten.

Yan:

My husband used to work at the mine but he is dead now.

Han:

Is he the reason you went to the mine office to claim compensation?

Yan:

… [weep] compensation… I don’t know [cry]… yes it was about his compensation, you know they [the mine management] compensated everyone in the same way, so I don’t have much to say on this issue. I went there for my elder brother. He was injured last September but so far, his compensation terms have not yet been settled. I went there… to try to arrange the compensation… together with my husband’s… we wanted to fix them and once that was done, we could return home together. My brother won’t be able to travel alone and he couldn’t make a living here [Fushun, Liaoning] by himself… [cry]… so we have to leave together… once the compensation is fixed. I don’t know how they would deal with it, I haven’t heard anything and now my husband is gone and I don’t know how to solve all these problems!

Han:

Do you have any children?

Yan:

Yes, we have one; he is 17 years old and still attending school.

Han:

Back at home?

Yan:

Right, I really have no idea what to do… I have a child and an old man [to support].

Han:

You mean your father-in-law?

Yan:

Yes… so please help us to voice our situation.

The nurse who attended Yan talked about her injury:

Nurse:

It is on the leg, now she has a problem in walking and also her back was hit and there is bruising on her buttocks. My clinic is a private one and we don’t have equipment to give her further checkups. Her face is too pale.

CLB called Mengjiagou Coalmine Office to get more details of the police’s attack on Yan. The person answered the phone first denied the case, and then he claimed that some people were “creating troubles” and “raising massive complaints”. At the end he even denied that he worked for the coalmine.

Coalmine Office:

No, that is… just a rumour.

Han:

Excuse me?

Coalmine Office:

Rumour! Nothing… like that happened. It was not like that! Nothing, nothing and nothing! I was there through the whole process and it wasn’t like that.

Han:

So what is the truth then? Especially…

Coalmine Office:

Nothing like that [the police attacked the widow of the victim]. Nothing!

Han:

But I have just talked to that injured woman on the phone.

Coalmine Office:

Oh, but it wasn’t like that.

Han:

Yes?

Coalmine Office:

It was not like that! That… the police was there to maintain the order but too many people came and they messed up the place… you know?

Han:

What do you mean [by “mess up” the place]?

Coalmine Office:

Well… some people there wanted to create trouble.

Han:

Who wanted to create trouble?

Coalmine Office:

How could I tell… just some people. Some started a mass collective complaint… too many people there.

Han:

How could you call them “creating trouble” if they were families of the victims?

Coalmine Office:

Then how could they talk about filing a mass collective complaint?

Han:

Why couldn’t they complain if they were not happy about the compensation?

Coalmine Office:

Sorry, I can’t explain you this issue. I am not a local here.

Han:

May I know where you were from?

Coalmine Office:

Where I was from… well… is it your right… that I must reveal you that? Sorry, I have something urgent to do.

Phone was hung up

Victim’s son:

Looking for them [mine management]? That is useless, a waste of effort. They simply don’t care. The victims’ families have gathered there since early this morning and they are still there.

Another victim’s son confirmed the police’s attack on the victim’s widow in the morning of 2 April. He also said that only one victim’s family, relatives of the mine boss, had accepted the compensation terms.

Han:

Oh, are they still here?

Victim’s son:

Yeah, I went there once today.

Han:

It is said that a victim’s family member was beaten?

Victim’s son:

Oh yes. It was a family member of a killed miner, a woman. Some police… on duty there beat that woman.

Han:

Have any families accepted the mine office’s compensation terms?

Victim’s son:

Only one, they are relatives of the mine boss.

Han:

They are the relatives of the mine boss?

Victim’s son:

Yes, relatives.

Another family member of a victim urged CLB to report their case to the public:

Family member of a victim:

Yesterday some reporters came and were criticized. They [mine management] said, “what kind of news are you producing? Making trouble here?” The reporters were criticized repeatedly and turned away. You know the reporters dared not to report such a case.

Han:

Which newspapers do they belong to?

Family member of a victim:

From the Liaoning[believed to be Liaoshen] Evening News and the Economic Daily, but useless. I really wish you could report this case… to let our voices be heard. You know it is not likely that we could sue [the mine management]. We peasants have no knowledge of laws and we won’t have the money for that… they [mine management] could do whatever they want. For example… the killed victims…the compensation terms are up to them [the mine management]… they said how much they would give as compensation - regardless of whether or not the families would agree. If you don’t agree, they would beat you. They solve problems by violence.

Han:

Ok, I will [report the case].

Family member of a victim:

I would like to thank you on behalf of the victims… thank you!