Text of report by Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy on 2 July
[Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy report: "Corruption in Reconstruction of Deyang Sichuan Disaster Area Sparks Big Riot By Thousands of People, 300 Injured, 200 Arrested"]
Urgent! [as published, in English]
(1235 hours, 2 Jul 2010) - -This Centre has learned that the "Dongfang Steam Turbine Corporation, Ltd.," located in badly earthquake damaged Mianzhu, has invested 5 billion RMB in the rebuilding of the town of Bajiaojing within the jurisdiction of Deyang City, yet because of corrupt officials at various levels, villagers have only received 30,000 RMB of the 260,000 RMB which each household is supposed to get. Starting on 27 June, more than 5,000 villagers blocked the Chengdu-Mianzhu Highway and besieged Dongfang Steam Turbine. On the evening of the 27th, the villagers battled with as many as a thousand riot police personnel and four armoured vehicles. As many as a hundred people were injured. From the morning of 28 June to this morning, the rioting was still not suppressed. Villagers gathered at the gate of Dongfang Steam Turbine are in a standoff with Public Security riot police. At least three major clashes have occurred between the two sides. As of today, more than 300 people have been injured and 200 have been arrested. As many as a thousand special Public Security riot police and four armoured vehicles are standing by in the town of Bajiaojing. A villager in Bajiaojing said an old person was badly injured and has died, but this Centre has no way to confirm that. The Bajiaojing Hospital said it has treated as many as a hundred seriously injured people, many of them with broken bones. A local villager said that early on the morning of 28 June there was blood everywhere at the scene of the clashes, and authorities mobilized fire trucks to wash it away. At the scene of the clashes were at least two smashed up police vehicles, and all around were bricks, stones, and broken beer bottles. The villagers had used stones and bricks to battle with the armoured riot control vehicles. Spectators at the scene put short videos and photos on certain websites, but they were deleted immediately. The cell phones of several city residents who were taking pictures at the scene were grabbed and smashed on the spot by Public Security personnel. Today a large number of villagers are still at the gate of Dongfang Steam Turbine, where they have set up tents to block the road. As of today, funds for relocation and rebuilding which are thought to have been embezzled have still not been released, and there has been no news about the release of the villagers who were arrested.
The amount of money being spent on post-earthquake reconstruction is huge, but much of the reconstruction assistance funding has been appropriated in the name of various things by officials at various levels. Most governments at various levels have put the funds into the budget for "road" reconstruction, but as soon as the funds are in place, they are diverted to short-term investment or even to speculate on the stock market or real estate.
This Centre has learned that Sichuan "4 June" student leader Liu Xianbin, who has spent 13 years in prison, was arrested on 28 June for "subversion" after expressing support for Tan Zuoren and Huang Qi. On 1 July, 18 lawyers including Xu Zhiyong and Teng Biao formed a legal aid group, and on 1 July, Chengdu lawyer Ma Xiaopeng met with Liu Xianbin at the Suining detention centre. But judging from past experience, this Centre believes that for the Public Security authorities to permit the meeting means a 99 per cent probability that Liu Xianbin will be charged and tried. Forty-one year old Liu Xianbin was jailed for two and a half years following "4 June." In 1999 he was sentenced to 13 years for "subversion." He was not released until November 2008, so altogether he has served 13 years in jail. Authorities in Sichuan disregarded the feelings of Hong Kong people, who donated most of the Sichuan reconstruction funds, and sentenced Huang Qi and Tan Zuoren anyway. The rough treatment which authorities in Sichuan have on several occasions dished out to Hong Kong journalists has already made Hong Kong people unhappy, and for th e Sichuan authorities to jail Liu Xianbin again will incite public anger among Hong Kong people.
Source: Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, Hong Kong, in Chinese 2 Jul 10