Mining deaths

At least 26 miners died in a gas explosion at a coal mine in Yu county, Shanxi province on 8 November 2002.
16 miners died in the Lishu No. 7 Coal Mine in Jixi, Heilongjiang province on 20 January 2003. The explosion was caused by a build up of gas, which accounts for a large proportion of mining deaths in China.

Factory deaths

Five chemical factory workers in Taizhou city, Zhejiang province died when an explosion destroyed the factory in early November.

13 workers were killed on 30 November 2002 when an unlicensed fireworks factory blew up in Jijiahe village in Shaanxi province. The explosion demolished the three-storey factory. Factory owner Liu Minghzhao fled after telling rescue teams where the accident occurred. The authorities had closed two fireworks factories also owned by Liu due to violations of safety rules.

From South China Morning Post, 9 November 2002, LabourStart, 23 January 2003, and World Socialist Web Site, 7 December 2002

Liaoyang: two face subversion charge

Yao Fuxin, Pang Qingxiang, Xiao Yunliang, and Wang Zhaoming were arrested in March 2002 for organising demonstrations to secure unpaid wages and pensions (see ALUs 42, 43), or ‘illegal assembly, marches, and protests’ as the authorities put it.

On 20 December, Pang and Wang were released on bail, pending trial, but were later told that no formal charges would be made. However police asked Wang to report to a police station on 31 December 2002 and apparently he disappeared after doing so.

Yao and Xiao are now charged with subverting the state, a far more serious accusation than the original trumped-up ‘illegal assembly’ charge.

An official of the government’s sweetheart union, the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), said they were involved in car bombings even though local Liaoyang officials, including the chairman of the local ACFTU, assert that no violence occurred.

Yao is known to be ill with a heart condition, but the authorities have refused requests for compassionate treatment.

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions lodged a complaint with the International Labour Organisation in March 2002.

At a media conference in November, Zhang Junjiu, the then Deputy Chairman of the government’s sweetheart union, the All China Federation of Trade Unions, with no evidence whatsoever, claimed that Yao “had been detained because he had broken Chinese law by carrying out car-bombings and not because he had organised a workers’ campaign”.

In a telephone interview with China Labour Bulletin (CLB) shortly after release, Wang declared, “I still think that what we have done is an act of justice. We are only asking for our back pay. This is reasonable and legal in every sense. It is our hard-earned money. Why [is the factory] holding it? …It simply doesn’t make sense to us. We have to get it back. The government has done nothing despite our numerous petitions. We were left with no options but taking to the streets! Two of us are still locked up. They’ve got to release them!”

Teachers protest restructuring

In what are believed to be the first protests opposing changes to pay scales of Chinese public servants, about 100 retired teachers demonstrated in Pizhou, Jiangsu province on 11 December.
Under the guise of ‘restructuring’, public servants’ pay and pensions were reduced by 20 percent by the government, with the proviso that local government pays the missing 20 percent. However the 20 percent payment is not guaranteed as they can decide whether they have the resources to do so. With local governments strapped for cash, and bribery rampant among local cadres, this is unlikely to be forthcoming anywhere in China.

From World Socialist Web Site, 21 December 2002