China Quells Parents' Protest
Riot police were called in to disperse a crowd of hundreds of parents in southwestern China whose children were killed in school collapses during May's massive earthquake.
Police wielding riot shields and batons dragged away more than a dozen of the parents, who had gathered in front of a local government office in the city of Mianzhu in Sichuan province Tuesday morning, witnesses said. The parents were hoping to hear the results of an investigation into the failure of area school buildings in the quake.
No report was forthcoming from officials there, parents said. At about 11 a.m., hundreds of police in riot gear arrived. A woman who refused to leave was kicked repeatedly and knocked to the ground, according to witnesses.
At least some of the people detained were released later Tuesday, parents said.
Police officials in Mianzhu declined to comment, except to say the case is being handled by their 'national security' unit.
Local authorities in China have been stepping up efforts to silence complaints and stifle protests by parents frustrated by the pace of inquiries into why schools weren't sturdy enough to survive the 7.9-magnitude quake -- apparently because they worry the issue will tarnish China's image.
One letter from authorities in Mianzhu last month warned parents to avoid 'doing things hurting the national dignity.' The letter said that 'malfeasant persons at home and abroad' were seeking to use the parents' sadness 'to sabotage the Olympics' and 'ruin China's image.'
Some of the parents in Tuesday's protest said local officials had visited them earlier in the day to offer financial assistance if they would sign a document promising that they would 'never participate in any activities that will affect overall rebuilding efforts.'
Families that agree will receive a one-time payment of about $8,500. Parents would also receive additional funds every month after they retire. Because of Chinese family-planning policies, many couples lost their only children in the disaster, which the government has said destroyed nearly 7,000 classrooms and dormitory rooms.
Parents interviewed by phone said they interpreted the offers as an effort by the government to force them to stop speaking out and pushing the government for an explanation of why so many schools were destroyed in the quake. Many blame shoddy construction and government corruption for the collapses.
'If we sign the letter, it means we will get the money, but the government won't be held responsible,' said one parent. 'We wouldn't be able to do anything or say anything anymore.'
Police have been deployed to break up several parent protests since the earthquake. Human-rights advocates say the government in June detained a local political activist, Huang Qi, who had met with bereaved parents. Local authorities have also sought to bar foreign reporters from areas where schools collapsed.
Xu Feidi, the vice mayor of Mianzhu, said the money was 'not compensation' for the children's deaths, but was 'a payment involving comprehensive considerations.' He said families that lost children had already received a range of other benefits, such as health-care funds, totaling more than $4,000.
In addition, Mr. Xu said, the local government had bought what are essentially annuities for the parents, which would provide them with monthly stipends to supplement their ordinary pensions after they retire. 'The government is doing its utmost to help,' Mr. Xu said.
Mr. Xu, who said he was unaware of Tuesday's confrontation, also said government investigators had basically concluded that the severity of the earthquake was the primary cause of the school collapses.
'It was a natural disaster unprecedented in thousands of years,' Mr. Xu said. 'To separate the quality problem from this cause is very difficult.'
Eight schools in Mianzhu partially or completely collapsed in the earthquake, killing hundreds of students, who were in afternoon classes when the quake struck on May 12.
In the case of the Dongqi Middle School, the classroom structures gave way when many surrounding buildings remained upright. At least 220 of the school's 900 students and 14 teachers were killed. Bereaved parents say they believe official negligence was partly to blame.
Some parents said they felt the government's financial assistance offers were inadequate. The weakness of China's government-sponsored social safety net means that most people need to rely heavily on their children to care for them when they stop working.
'We were so unhappy with' the government's assistance offer, said the mother of a teenage boy killed in the collapse of a high school. 'Our child died, and we raised him for 17 years,' she said.
Parents reached by phone in some other municipalities where schools collapsed said they hadn't received any similar compensation offers from local authorities.
Gordon Fairclough
Police wielding riot shields and batons dragged away more than a dozen of the parents, who had gathered in front of a local government office in the city of Mianzhu in Sichuan province Tuesday morning, witnesses said. The parents were hoping to hear the results of an investigation into the failure of area school buildings in the quake.
No report was forthcoming from officials there, parents said. At about 11 a.m., hundreds of police in riot gear arrived. A woman who refused to leave was kicked repeatedly and knocked to the ground, according to witnesses.
At least some of the people detained were released later Tuesday, parents said.
Police officials in Mianzhu declined to comment, except to say the case is being handled by their 'national security' unit.
Local authorities in China have been stepping up efforts to silence complaints and stifle protests by parents frustrated by the pace of inquiries into why schools weren't sturdy enough to survive the 7.9-magnitude quake -- apparently because they worry the issue will tarnish China's image.
One letter from authorities in Mianzhu last month warned parents to avoid 'doing things hurting the national dignity.' The letter said that 'malfeasant persons at home and abroad' were seeking to use the parents' sadness 'to sabotage the Olympics' and 'ruin China's image.'
Some of the parents in Tuesday's protest said local officials had visited them earlier in the day to offer financial assistance if they would sign a document promising that they would 'never participate in any activities that will affect overall rebuilding efforts.'
Families that agree will receive a one-time payment of about $8,500. Parents would also receive additional funds every month after they retire. Because of Chinese family-planning policies, many couples lost their only children in the disaster, which the government has said destroyed nearly 7,000 classrooms and dormitory rooms.
Parents interviewed by phone said they interpreted the offers as an effort by the government to force them to stop speaking out and pushing the government for an explanation of why so many schools were destroyed in the quake. Many blame shoddy construction and government corruption for the collapses.
'If we sign the letter, it means we will get the money, but the government won't be held responsible,' said one parent. 'We wouldn't be able to do anything or say anything anymore.'
Police have been deployed to break up several parent protests since the earthquake. Human-rights advocates say the government in June detained a local political activist, Huang Qi, who had met with bereaved parents. Local authorities have also sought to bar foreign reporters from areas where schools collapsed.
Xu Feidi, the vice mayor of Mianzhu, said the money was 'not compensation' for the children's deaths, but was 'a payment involving comprehensive considerations.' He said families that lost children had already received a range of other benefits, such as health-care funds, totaling more than $4,000.
In addition, Mr. Xu said, the local government had bought what are essentially annuities for the parents, which would provide them with monthly stipends to supplement their ordinary pensions after they retire. 'The government is doing its utmost to help,' Mr. Xu said.
Mr. Xu, who said he was unaware of Tuesday's confrontation, also said government investigators had basically concluded that the severity of the earthquake was the primary cause of the school collapses.
'It was a natural disaster unprecedented in thousands of years,' Mr. Xu said. 'To separate the quality problem from this cause is very difficult.'
Eight schools in Mianzhu partially or completely collapsed in the earthquake, killing hundreds of students, who were in afternoon classes when the quake struck on May 12.
In the case of the Dongqi Middle School, the classroom structures gave way when many surrounding buildings remained upright. At least 220 of the school's 900 students and 14 teachers were killed. Bereaved parents say they believe official negligence was partly to blame.
Some parents said they felt the government's financial assistance offers were inadequate. The weakness of China's government-sponsored social safety net means that most people need to rely heavily on their children to care for them when they stop working.
'We were so unhappy with' the government's assistance offer, said the mother of a teenage boy killed in the collapse of a high school. 'Our child died, and we raised him for 17 years,' she said.
Parents reached by phone in some other municipalities where schools collapsed said they hadn't received any similar compensation offers from local authorities.
Gordon Fairclough
中國平息地震遇難學生家長的抗議活動
數
百在汶川大地震中因校舍坍塌失去子女的家長周二聚集在四川綿竹市政府辦公樓前舉行抗議活動，隨後奉命趕來的防暴警察將示威人群軀散。目擊者說，手執防暴盾及防暴棍的警察拖開了幾十名抗議家長。而這些家長們的訴求就是要知道針對震區坍塌校舍的質量調查結果。
家長們表示，當地政府沒有就此給出任何說法。周二上午大約11點，數百身著防暴服的警察來到了示威現場。目擊者稱，一位拒不離開的女士被踢了數腳，並被打倒在地。
﹒家長們說，至少部分被羈押者在周二晚些時候獲得了釋放。
綿竹警方官員拒絕就此發表評論，只是說此事由國家安全部門處理。
由於政府遲遲未能就為何校舍無法抵擋7.9級地震給出調查結果，遇難學生家長深感失望。而顧慮到國家形像可能因此受損，當地政府使出了越來越大的力氣來平息指責、壓制抗議。
綿竹政府上個月發信警告這些家長要避免做有損國家尊嚴的事。這封信表示，國內外不法分子正利用家長的悲傷情緒，妄圖損害中國的名譽，破壞北京奧運會。
一些參加了抗議活動的家長透露，當地官員周二較早時曾找過他們，表示可以提供經濟資助，但前提是他們要簽署文件，保証今後決不參加任何有礙整體重建工作的活動。
認同這一點的家庭可以一次性獲得約8,500美元。退休後這些家長每月還可拿到其他補助。由於中國實行計劃生育政策，許多家長都在這場地震中失去了唯一的孩子。官方數據顯示，汶川大地震摧毀了近7000間教室和宿舍。
接受電話採訪的家長說，他們認為政府之所以同意給錢是想迫使他們收聲，並不再要求政府就如此多校舍坍塌的原因給出解釋。許多人都認為低劣的建築質量以及政府腐敗是令校舍一震即塌的禍首。
一位家長表示，如果我們簽了那個文件，就意味著雖然我們能拿到錢，但政府就沒有責任了，我們也不能再說什麼或是做什麼了。
自從地震發生以來，警方已幾次趕來驅散示威家長。人權活動家表示，政府6月份拘留了當地一位名叫黃琦的政治活動人士，此人曾與那些痛失子女的家長有過接觸。當地政府也在試圖阻止境外記者進入有校舍坍塌的地區進行採訪。
綿竹市副市長許飛地表示，這筆錢並非遇難學生的死亡賠償金，而是一筆考慮到方方面面因素的綜合性給付。許飛地稱，失去子女的家庭已獲得了一系列福利待遇，例如總計4000多美元的健康醫療金等。
許飛地還表示，當地政府已經為這些家長購買了基本養老保險，以便退休後每月可領到退休金以外的補助。許飛地稱政府已盡了最大努力來幫助他們。
許飛地表示他對周二的沖突事件並不知情，並指出政府調查得出的主要結論顯示，地震強度過大是校舍倒塌的首要原因。
他談到，此次地震是一場千年不遇的自然災害，很難在不考慮這一因素的情況下單獨評估建築質量問題。
綿竹共有八所學校在5﹒12地震中全部或部分坍塌，當時數百名正在上課的學生被奪去了生命。
Junho Kim for The Wall Street Jounal
曾經的東汽中學只剩斷壁殘垣
一些家長說，他們覺得政府補助不夠。中國的社會保障體系尚不完善，大多數人退休後很大程度上都要依靠子女養老。
一位母親談到，我們對政府的資助方案很不滿意，我們的兒子沒有了，我們養育了他整整17年。
記者電話聯系了其他地區遇難學生的家長，他們表示沒有從當地政府拿到過任何類似賠償。
Gordon Fairclough
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