For the two dozen people gathered there one recent day, the pain of losing loved ones when an excursion boat sank on the Yangtze River in June has been joined by a deep disillusionment with the government.
Instead of being given information about what happened and who is to blame, they say they have been placed under government surveillance; seeking justice, they have been stonewalled for more than four months.
The lack of transparency that pervades China’s one-party state, the sense that there will be no meaningful accountability for what went wrong and the effective silencing of their voices have made them feel helpless and increasingly bitter.
“The government just thinks of us as troublemakers now,” said Candy Tang, 35, who lost her 6-year-old daughter when the Eastern Star sank.
“All we want to know is the truth, but we have no right to know, and no right to speak.”
Over the summer, two disasters shook the Chinese nation and dominated global headlines: Four-hundred-forty-two lives were lost when the riverboat sank in a storm on the Yangtze, and 173 people died in explosions at a chemicals warehouse in the northern port of Tianjin in August.
In the days that followed, China’s top leaders promised “transparent” investigations of what went wrong in each case and justice for those who lost loved ones.
In their grief, many relatives of the victims believed those promises, trusting the government in the same way, one man said, that Chinese people trust the eldest brother to make decisions in his family’s best interests.
But many now think the promises have been broken.
Instead of transparency, the government has prevented the news media from reporting on the causes of each accident, while the results of its own investigations remain a mystery.
Compensation has been offered, but only on the condition that those affected give up the right to ask questions.
Even in such high-profile cases, the government, they say, has not shown any compassion for its citizens.
It’s not so much eldest brother as Big Brother, they say.
After the Eastern Star disaster, President Xi Jinping instructed officials to “empathize with the suffering of family members” and placate them patiently, but also to “maintain social stability.”
Premier Li Keqiang was shown on television directing rescue efforts at the site.
“We trusted that Uncle Xi would give us an honest investigation,” Tang said. “But now I look back and find it was all a show, with Li Keqiang playing the lead role.”
In Tianjin, relatives of each of the 104 firefighters who died have received the equivalent of about $360,000 in compensation — but only, some said, after staging a protest outside the district government. The injured, many of them employed under short-term contracts, have still received nothing.
“Many of my injured colleagues can’t work as firefighters anymore — so how can they afford to live?” asked one firefighter, who said he has nightmares about the blaze and the charred bodies of his colleagues.
As he recovered in the hospital, nurses told him not to talk to the media, he said, while police tracked visiting relatives closely to prevent them from doing so.
Wu Guoqiang, a representative of local residents who lost relatives and property in the explosions, said he also had come under intense surveillance: “I have been forced to change my phone number several times, and all of them have been tapped.”
Armed police patrolled his apartment compound last month to prevent residents from gathering, Wu added, in a brief, nervous telephone interview.
“Residents are afraid to express their demands because many have been repressed after speaking out,” he said.
n central China, after hearing news of the disaster on the Yangtze, many relatives rushed to the nearest town of Jianli, where they were joined by scores of provincial officials, who latched onto each family, accompanied them everywhere and paid for their food and accommodations.
But the sympathy came at a price.
“They tried to prevent us going to the rescue site, and they wouldn’t even let us have a meeting of the victims’ families,” said a woman who lost her mother but asked not to be named for fear of inviting trouble from the authorities.
“That’s why they sent so many officials — they were just there to watch us.”
Questions immediately surfaced about why the captain of the vessel had not dropped anchor in the face of a violent storm, and about whether a refitting of the ship to carry more passengers had undermined its stability.
But those questions were swiftly suppressed — as instructions went out to local media to remove reporters from the scene and strictly follow the party line.
“All the news we heard was about the glorious behavior of officials and soldiers who rescued people,” said the woman. “We heard so little about what actually happened that night and who should take responsibility.”
On their return home, relatives said they were stunned by officials’ indifference. In Shanghai, where many live, one described it as the “cold shoulder,” another as a “cold war.”
Family members were offered compensation equivalent to $130,000, without admission of liability, on the condition that beneficiaries agree not to demand any more money.
Many have declined to accept those terms. Before signing, they say, they want to know what happened and who is to blame.
“I am not selling my relatives,” said a 60-year-old woman who lost her husband and said her name is Zhou. “I don’t need money, I need the truth.”
In August, relatives said, they staged a peaceful protest in Nanjing, demanding that the government reveal what happened: One woman was beaten and detained by police, they said.
Another used a private message group to suggest a silent protest in Shanghai, only to be called by police — who apparently had been monitoring the conversation — and told not to “cause trouble.”
Several want to hire a lawyer to represent them, but after the detention of scores of lawyers in the past three months in a widening crackdown on civil rights, they say no one is prepared to take their case.
Provincial and city governments declined to comment on the two incidents, although official reports on both are promised in the coming months. But for many victims, the damage has been done.
“The accident changed me dramatically,” Tang said. “It changed my worldview and made me feel ashamed to be a Chinese citizen. I have now seen what censorship is, and I have realized I was brainwashed when I was brought up.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comment here