Inside China Today

Inside China Today – Thursday 3rd December

Zheng Shuzhen (L) holds a portrait of her deceased grand-daughter Zhou Mengxin while grieving outside the Complaints Department of the Ministry of Health in Beijing on May 8, 2009. She claims the child's death, caused by injesting toxic with lethal amounts of melamine, has never been dealt with appropriately by their local government. AFP PHOTO / Frederic J. BROWN

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Poisoned milk scandal: civil lawsuit lays way for future cases

The first hearing on the civil lawsuit regarding the Sanlu poison milk powder scandal, recently took place at a district court in Beijing. SOH interviewed the plaintiff’s lawyer Peng Jian, who said that the Sanlu Group was unable to pay any amount of financial compensation after it was declared bankrupt. Peng said parents of victimized infants are seeking facts and truths of the matter through the civil case, to build the foundation for future social welfare claims.

According to media reports outside of China, Shunyi Court on the outskirts of Beijing accepted the case. The court hearing began on November 27, and the case was presented by both parties. The next hearing is due to take place on December 9. The plaintiff, 30 year old Ma Xuexin from Henan Province, had a 20 month old boy who fell victim to the poisoned milk powder. He requested compensation of up to $55,184 renminbi. He also requested that Sanlu contributes towards his son’s medical expenses before he reaches adulthood.

His lawyer Peng Jian said, on February 12, 2009, the Sanlu group which became officially bankrupt no longer had the ability to pay compensation to victims of the scandal. However the reason for proceeding with the court case was in protection of social justice. Peng said (recording), “The purpose behind this, is to uphold social justice and the spirit of the law. From this viewpoint, the party responsible should be put on the defendant’s stand, to face the law as well as the public. They should take on the relevant responsibilities through the judgment, and be clear on these responsibilities.”

Last September, in Min county of Gansu Province, 14 infants fell ill concurrently with symptoms of kidney stones. The discovery officially revealed the melamine contamination in China’s milk powder industry. To date, the facts of the victimized infants have yet to be confirmed through formal civil lawsuits.
According to Peng Jian (recording) “They can also confirm their status as victims of melamine contaminated milk powder through such civil lawsuits. Even if the proceedings cannot take care of the main requests from the plaintiff, the hearings will confirm facts of the victimization, and establish factual references to forming the foundation for future claims for social welfare and compensation.”

Lawyer Peng believes this lawsuit has set a standard for parents who wish to seek justice in the future. (Recording) “This case has been very important, one could say it has set the standard. Lawsuits from parents in similar situations, will follow this model, that includes the statements of facts and reasons for the lawsuit against the defendant.”

Chris Thomas; Bo Ming; and Yu Lian for the SOH Radio Network.

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Chinese AIDS Advocates under House Arrest in Henan

AIDS advocates in Henan Province of China told reporters that, because of a lack of regulation on blood transfusions, there are more and more AIDS patients in China because of infections from blood products. These patients do not have the necessary medical care nor any guarantee on their livelihood, and were denied their rights to appeal. On the eve of World AIDS Day, many advocates for Chinese AIDS patients went to government offices to appeal, only to find themselves house arrested.

One such advocate is Tian Xi, he told reporters that because there is a lack of regulation, prevention and medical treatment of AIDS is nothing but a slogan of local government officials when seeking their own political interests. There are more and more AIDS patients in China, yet they do not get adequate medical treatment. Those who got AIDS because of blood transfusions went to court to have their case heard, only to find the court refused to hear their case.

Tian Xi (recording): AIDS prevention and treatment becomes a show piece for politicians, the basic medical care of the AIDS patient is not guaranteed, let alone their basic human rights of survival. There is a wider and wider spread of AIDS in China, and the situation is not optimistic at all. There is also the trade of blood. In China, the judicial system is very much a random thing, and there is a lack of monitoring and check and balance. That’s why these problems are taking place. The blood safety issue is far from being resolved.

It’s reported that 40 AIDS patients from Henan Province went to Beijing on November 25th to appeal to China’s Ministry of Health. One of them, Tian Xi, was infected with AIDS in 1996 because of a blood transfusion, and he got hepatitis B and hepatitis C as well. But he was brought back home to Henan and house arrested.

Tian Xi (recording): I went to the Ministry of Health last Thursday with a banner, I wanted to seek justice for this infection. I was brought back by Henan government officials and now I am staying at home. Two others who went with me last Thursday are also under house arrest, and they do not have any freedom also.”

Another advocate, Wang Xiaoqiao, her husband was working for a work unit, where he suffered an injury and then received a blood transfusion and acquired the AIDS virus. According to her, most AIDS patients in Henan got AIDS in this manner.

Wang Xiaoqiao (recording): Many people got AIDS, many through blood transfusions. The rest is through selling blood. My husband got infected in 2003 and became bedridden. I am a handicapped person, and I was hoping the government would help me and my child. The person whose blood was given to my husband is an AIDS patient, and he is still alive. Because I have this live witness, I went to court but the court would not hear the case.

Wang said that since her husband became ill, the livelihood of the whole family became a problem. She went to appeal many times but all were fruitless, and she was imprisoned for this twice. Many people like her wanted to seek justice, but are afraid to do so since this may affect their family negatively.

Wang (recording): The county government officials imprisoned me twice. The party and the government accused you of big crimes, and imprison you. Many people want to appeal, but are afraid. If one is in prison, the whole family will suffer, no one will take care of the patients and the children.

The government of Henan encouraged blood trade in the mid 90’s, and used it as a way to stimulate the economy. The “blood plasma economy” lead to many illegal blood trade centers established in the province. But the way they extract the blood is very primitive and does not following a hygiene procedure, hence leading to a wide spread of AIDS in that province.

Michael Anderson; Wen Fang and Kai Di for the SOH Radio Network.

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Villagers stage massive protest over land sale

Thousands of villagers from the Nangaoying Village of Hebei Province have barricaded roads for eight straight days in a massive show of protest. The protest has been aimed at local party committee members whom the villagers are accusing of conspiring with land developers to carry out illegal acts of property theft. The villagers have demanded that the authorities return the housing and land that was their livelihood.

During an interview with Sound of Hope, one of the villagers tells us (recording), “The government has allocated a piece of land for renovating the old village. Villagers were supposed to be moved onto this land for renovation. As it turned out, the Village Party Committee and the developer changed the development into commercial housing. One property was promised to each villager, but none was given. All the new lots were sold. The villagers in the end got nothing. Now we are fighting for our legal rights. The developers have even hired local ruffians to intimidate us.”

According to villagers, the Party Branch Secretary, He Shengguo, has also been colluding with the former head of the Village Committee, and the chief executive of Hebei Jijing Real Estate Development Ltd. He obtained approval under the pretence of renovations in order to sell 156,000 square meters of private land belonging to 1300 residents. The villagers have lost their properties and land without any compensation.

Another villager has told SOH (recording), “The land of the Village Committee was not waste land, but rather basic farm land that villagers rely on for livelihood – we have the maps to prove this.”

Under pressure, the developer had to negotiate with the villagers. Their chief executive, Wang Jinsheng, had promised 150 million in compensation but in fact hired 50 thugs to beat up villagers. A 70-year-old villager was severely injured.

With a population of 7,900 people, Gaoying Village used to be considered a well-off village and was quite well known. Now the local authorities had torn the village into pieces, leaving villagers with no means to make a living.

Perry Luo; Anna and Yu Shan for the SOH Radio Network.

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