What has the ACFTU done? – An Interview with the Wife of a Jixi Mine Blast Victim

(Broadcast on June 27, 2002)

On June 20, a gas explosion with 115 fatalities took place at the Chengzihe Coal Mine in Jixi, a city in Heilongjiang province. On June 25, a victim’s wife told China Labour Bulletin that the compensation offered by the Jixi Mining Bureau (JMB) was unreasonable, and that the mine was guarded by the police to prevent further negotiations with the victims’ families.

Victim’s wife (Wife):

Hello! Who is speaking?

Han Dongfang (Han):

Hello! Excuse me. I hope I am not disturbing you. My name is Han. I am calling from China Labour Bulletin (CLB). I am not working for the government. I am calling from Hong Kong and I want to have a better understanding of the gas explosion. Somebody in your family was killed in the accident, is that right?

Wife:

Right.

Han:

We would like to know if JMB and the government have arranged the terms of compensation with the victims’ families.

Wife:

Ya, it was fixed, and we have received the payment. It is about 50,000 yuan.(cry)

Han:

About 50,000 yuan?

Wife:

Ya!

Han:

May I ask who was killed in your family?

Wife:

My husband!(cry)

Han:

Oh, your husband?

Wife:

Yes!

Han:

How old was he?

Wife:

52.

Han:

So he would be about to retire?

Wife:

Ya…in 2-3 years. Hey, if I tell you something, could you pass it on to the higher authority? (cry)

Han:

Please, go ahead!

Wife:

You know, I am disabled, a paralytic. How could I survive with 170 yuan a month?

Han:

JMB said it would pay you 170 yuan per month?

Wife:

How could it cover my daily and medical expenses?

Han:

Who else is in your family?

Wife:

My son and his wife. Both of them are unemployed and have to go around for jobs.

Han:

Have they got any kids?

Wife:

Ya, a baby, barely one month old. You know how much my husband loved it, but he passed away when the baby turned one month old.(cry)

Han:

So, it means everyone was dependent on your husband?

Wife:

Right, he was the breadwinner of the family. Now that he has gone, 170 yuan is not even enough for a minimal meal of porridge. You know that, 170 yuan is like nothing nowadays.

Han:

Did JMB say anything about your medical expenses?

Wife:

No! I did talk to the JMB and the working group, but they just refused my request. 170 yuan is the maximum they would pay me and not a penny more I could bargain for. I did not want to bother the JMB. It has returned me my husband’s corpse and my son was so exhausted after 3 and 4 sleepless nights. We were not very clear with what we agreed to. I am quite O.K. with everything except my allowance. It is definitely too little. But to whom I could speak? Oh please help me to report my case to the higher authority, will you?

Han:

I will. I will bring this matter [to the higher authority]

Wife:

Please help me out. I would be grateful.

Han:

Oh please don’t talk like this! And can you tell me how much medical expenses you pay every month?

Wife:

Maybe I should tell you more details about my situation. I was disabled with polio. Later I was hit by cerebral haemorrhage and heart disease. So, with all these illnesses, I can only survive on 400-500 yuan every month.

Han:

Does it include the medical expenses?

Wife:

Right, 400-500 will be enough. I am not expecting much.

Han:

Did you make your request to the JMB and the government?

Wife:

I did. But they said ‘no way.’ The most I can get is 170 yuan.

Han:

Everything included in that 170 yuan?

Wife:

Ya. That’s all I can get.

Han:

And then a one-off [compensation of] 50,000yuan?

Wife:

Oh, it is paid for my [husband] Li Weicheng’s life !(cry)

Han:

Can I write down your case?

Wife:

Oh please do! Take a pen and write it down, will you?

Han:

I will. So what is your name?

Wife:

My husband is called Li Weicheng and I, Geng Yuzhen. I am 50 years old.

Han:

I was told that your husband was a [Chinese Communist] party member.

Wife:

Oh yes… you can come to our district and pick whoever to ask, all the elderly and young people liked him a lot. He was such an honest, hardworking guy. He returned to the mine at once after those industrial injuries like fractures. Now he left me alone and the [Communist] Party doesn’t care. Oh no, how am I going to live on?

Han:

When did your husband join the Party?

Victim’s family:

More than 20 years ago! You know, I got 50,000 yuan this time and I will have to repay 20,000yuan in which I borrowed when I was hit by cerebral haemorrhage in 1988. How much will be left then? How can I make the ends meet? A colleague of my husband’s told me that the work team and somebody from the central government all came to investigate. But what’s the use of it? I didn’t meet any of them. It is very kind of you to call to listen to my case.

Han:

How much did he earn monthly in the mine?

Wife:

When he was working in [coalface] Section 140, he made 500-600 a month. With 3 kids going to school, it’s far from enough and we were heavily in debt. Finally he was transferred to work in Section 145 [where the blast occurred – Ed.] through the back door. You know we borrowed nearly 2,000 yuan to have the transfer done. He wanted to earn more to support the kids and I have always been sick.

Han:

How many kids do you have?

Wife:

All grown up now. The youngest is already 20 something.

Han:

And are they all unemployed?

Wife:

The son is about to take his papa’s post.

Han:

Working in coalface as well?

Wife:

No, no, not for him. I requested the mining corporation to let him work in the coal cleaning plant and they agreed; the contract is already signed. One daughter is married and the youngest daughter has not received a job offer yet. At the moment, she works in a boutique, run by her cousin in Qingtao. Her uncle is helping us a lot. I don’t have to worry about my little daughter. Now I am the key problem. With all these illnesses, I must be watched over all the time. If you don’t believe me, you can come to our place to have a look.

Han:

Aha… so... I will try to write down your case…

Wife:

And please put forward my particular situation to the higher authority. You know, 170 yuan is not even enough for them to buy a pack of cigarettes, is it? (cry)

Han:

Right, it’s true! Oh, and you have to take good care of yourself.

Wife:

I will.

Han:

And one more thing: do you know what the safety was like in the mine?

Wife:

Safety... well, I am not healthy enough to go out often, but I heard that it got the “golden certificate” [safety certificate – Ed.] Alas, taking pictures, making videos, all kinds of shows. In fact, only the production matters. Oh…my husband told me before that this place [this coalface] was quite gaseous. But they [JMB officials] cared nothing about safety, just for a bit more money, and they [the miners] lost their lives for that.

Han:

Did he mention that there could be accidents?

Wife:

He did. He said there was a lot of gas there.

Han:

Was he an ordinary miner?

Wife:

Miner, an ordinary miner. He was getting old and given the task to take care of the tool-packs, so he was no more doing coal extracting. Oh, you know what? Yesterday, it was the funeral. How miserable! His face was completely black… (cry) He had once said, “It is dangerous! Too much gas!”(cry) but they [the JMB officials] ignored it; they just wanted more coal, and couldn’t care less about the miners’ lives. You can see, just paying me 170 yuan a month and they thought they could fool me like this. How could it be enough? It is not even enough for them to buy cigarettes.

Han:

Was there any contracting team at his workplace?

Wife:

Oh yes. There was a contracting team from Hengshan. All got killed.

Han:

Did anyone mention to you what exactly the cause of the gas explosion was?

Wife:

Well, everyone said the JMB officials pushed the miners to work as much as possible, so that they could earn more. They [JMB officials] are pretty corrupt. Even working so hard and risking their lives, the miners don’t earn much. My husband used to make 700-800yuan a month but now he lost his life for it.

Han:

Was the head of the Mining Bureau also in the death toll?

Wife:

Yes. Actually, he was a nice guy. He got killed when he was examining the mine. You know that day (June 20) was for “Hanging the Gold Medal (guajinpai)”. Gold medal! Gold medal! Who will give it a damn? All our 150 miners are dead now [Official fatalities were 115 – Ed.]. 5 or 6 of my neighbors are still missing.

Han:

What does that gold medal mean?

Wife:

Hm…it is kind of approval of the mine.

Han:

You mean it is a safety approval?

Wife:

Seems so.

Han:

So it meant the safety of the mine concerned was approved?

Wife:

Seems so, like it proved the mine passed the safety check.

Han:

Oh!

Wife:

Let’s say, would you try your best to help us?

Han:

Sure I will. My name is Han Dongfang. I am going to write down your case and send it to the central government.

Wife:

Please be kind and report my case. Oh, I can’t possibly pay for my medical expenses with 170 yuan. Oh who on earth will care about me? I can’t even go out and those working groups are simply useless.

Han:

Has the trade union contacted you since the accident?

Wife:

No. Only 2 working groups were sent here. I haven’t seen anybody from the trade union or the mine [JMB].

Han:

Just rest assured. I will report your case as soon as possible. Alright?

Wife:

Alright. Can I have your contact address, in case I want to follow the progress of my case?

Han:

No problem.

Wife:

Do you think your report can reach the people concerned in the central government?

Han:

Well, I will send it to the central government by email.

Wife:

Are they going to reply you?

Han:

Hm. I can’t really tell…….

Wife:

So try your best, won’t you?

Han:

Sure, I will. I will also send it to the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong [Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region – Ed.]. I hope they will communicate to the central government…

Wife:

About my case?

Han:

Yes. I will try my best to help. Let’s see if …

Wife:

Thank you very much. It is really kind of you. I really don’t know how to express my gratitude.(cry)

Han:

Don’t mention it like this.

Wife:

You know, it is really kind of you. Neither the JMB nor the trade union has sent anybody to show their sympathy. There has been no news from the mine for a couple days. My kid was going everywhere to see if any follow up would be done. Why didn’t anybody at the mining bureau just utter a word of sympathy?

Han:

It is really bad luck for a family to meet such a natural disaster. Or I would say a man-made calamity.

Wife:

I think it’s a man-made calamity. Oh ya, you just reminded me of something. You know, all the officials from the JMB would not choose that coalface to extract for the gas was simply too strong at that place. I have no clue who authorised the work later on. See, the blast really happened.

Han:

It’s a man-made calamity for sure.

Wife:

Indeed.

Han:

Have you asked the trade union for help?

Wife:

Whom can I ask? They didn’t let us in. It is guarded to avoid us.

Han:

You mean you were not allowed to get to the mine?

Wife:

No way! Oh my goodness!

Han:

Who guarded the mine?

Wife:

The police. They didn’t let us in.

Han:

Oh, then…

Wife:

Hey Brother Han Dongfang, how old are you?

Han:

I am 38.

Wife:

Such a good-hearted young lad.

Han:

Please don’t talk like this, it is my…

Wife:

Do come to my place when you visit the Baishi District, Chengzihei town in Jixi. I am sure you will be in tears when you see my situation.(cry)

Han:

Oh, you… you… Hold your grief, and you really have to take good care of yourself.

Wife:

And please do help me. I still can’t walk and I have no way to find good-hearted people for help. It is really nice of you to call today. I really need your help. I can’t live on 170 yuan. Do let me know the progress of my case; it can help relieve some of my agony.

Han:

I will.

Wife:

I have to repay the debt, and how can I survive with so little money after that?

Han:

Don’t worry! I promise I will try my best. O.K.?

Wife:

O.K. Good luck to you, Han.

Han:

Thank you. Do take care and bye for now.

Wife:

Bye.