[08.07.23 国际先驱论坛报] 悲痛家长被迫拿下地震封口费

荡漾

【08.7.23 国际先驱论坛报】悲痛家长被迫拿下地震封口费
【原文标题】China presses grieving parents to take hush money on quake
【中文标题】悲痛家长被迫拿下地震"封口"费
【登载媒体】国际先驱论坛报
【来源地址】http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/23/news/quake.4-307273.php?page=1
【原作者】Edward Wong
【译者】荡漾
【特别说明】本报道乃应网友要求所做翻译
【声明】本翻译供Anti-CNN使用，转载请注明译者及出处。
【原文】

HANWANG, China: The official came for Yu TingYun in his village one evening last week. While clutching a contract and a pen, he asked Yu to get into his car.

Yu's daughter had died in a cascade of concrete and bricks, one of at least 240 students at a high school in Hanwang who lost their lives in the May 12 earthquake. He became a leader of grieving parents demanding to know if that school, like so many others, had crumbled because of poor construction.

The contract had been thrust in Yu's face during a long interrogation by the police the previous day. In exchange for his silence, and for acknowledging that the ruling Communist Party had "mobilized society to help us," he would get a cash payment and a pension.

Yu had resisted then, but this time, he took the pen.

"When I saw that most of the parents had signed it, I signed it myself," Yu, 42, said softly. He carries a framed portrait of his daughter, Yang, in his shoulder bag.

Local governments in southwest China's Sichuan Province have begun a coordinated campaign to buy the silence of angry parents whose children died during the earthquake, according to interviews with more than a dozen parents from four collapsed schools. Officials coerce the parents into signing the compensation contract by threatening that the parents will receive no money at all if they refuse the agreement, the parents say.

Chinese officials had promised a new era of openness and transparency after the earthquake and before the Olympic Games next month. But the silencing of the parents is causing some doubt on the matter.

Officials have come knocking on parents' doors day and night. They are so intent on parents' signing the contract that in one case a mayor offered to pay for the return airplane ticket of a mother who had left the province.

The amount of the payments vary slightly depending on the local government. Parents in Hanwang said they were being offered 60,000 Yuan, or $8,800, in immediate cash and a per-parent pension of nearly 38,000 Yuan.

The campaign to buy off the parents follows other efforts to quash questions over school construction: The riot police have broken up protests by parents; officials have ordered Chinese news media to stop reporting on the collapses; local governments have begun to bulldoze the remains of some of the schools, closing the door on any chance of a proper investigation; and a human rights advocate trying to help some parents, Huang Qi, has been jailed.

The latest tactic also appears to be working: Most of the parents have signed the contract, even if they are displeased with the terms and still furious at the lack of a real investigation into the school collapses.

"Most of the parents now feel tired of this," said Liu GuanYuan, 44, whose 17-year-old son died in the collapse of Dongqi Middle School, also the gravesite of Yu's daughter. "There's a Chinese saying: 'The people sue the government, and the government doesn't care."'

The government has reported that 7,000 classrooms collapsed during the earthquake, and by some estimates 10,000 of the nearly 70,000 confirmed deaths were of schoolchildren.

The issue of the collapses is one of the most sensitive facing the Chinese government. Many parents blame local officials for lack of oversight during the construction of the schools and for refusing to carry out quake investigations; some say their hopes now lie in the central government, and they plan to go to Beijing to file petitions after the Olympics.

"We don't want to get the government in trouble ahead of the Olympics," Yu said. "We don't want to hurt the nation's image."

Yu was among eleven parents and relatives of children who died at Dongqi Middle School who met with a reporter Monday in a teahouse where shirtless men played mahjong. They and other parents said they were willing to risk talking to journalists in hopes that the central government would take notice.

Last week, Yu and about 10 parents were detained by police officers during a protest. Yu said he was interrogated for 12 hours at a police station in the nearby city of Deyang, while other parents from the protest, including a pregnant woman, were beaten.

"The local government has threatened us with beatings or punishment," Huang Lianfen, 33, said. A factory manager, she is the aunt of an 18-year-old boy who died in the Dongqi collapse. Huang said the boy's father was detained by the police last week and has refused to sign the contract.

"We're asking not only for compensation, but also for justice," she said.

On Monday, the parents from Hanwang met for the fourth time with the deputy mayor of Deyang, which administrates Hanwang. The deputy mayor, Zhang Jinming, verbally delivered the conclusion of the government investigation - that the school had collapsed solely because of the earthquake - and declared the case closed, parents said.

Calls seeking comment to government offices in Sichuan Province and the city of Deyang were ignored. A woman answering the phone at the police headquarters in Deyang said she was unaware of the protest and detentions last week.

The New York Times obtained a copy of the compensation contract being given to parents from Hanwang. "We hereby hope that the government can coordinate all aspects of society and help us with social benefits and special aid," the contract says. "From now on, under the leadership of the Party and the government, we will obey the law and maintain the social order for the post-earthquake reconstruction. We firmly will not take part in any activity that disturbs the post-earthquake reconstruction."

Another clause is full of praise for the Communist Party: "Natural disaster is merciless, but the world is full of love. The Party and the government reached out their hands to us and mobilized society to help us and alleviate our hardships. In this regard, we sincerely appreciate the help and care from the Party, government and society!"

The contract does not state the payment amount, which was given verbally to parents by officials, the parents said.
Other parents who said they were asked to sign a contract represent Xinjian Primary School in Dujiangyan, JuYuan Middle School in JuYuan and Fuxin No. 2 Primary School in Mianzhu. Hundreds died in those schools. In each case, as here in Hanwang, buildings around the school remained standing.

"I heard that most of the parents in our school have signed it," said Wang Lan, whose 8-year-old son died in the Xinjian collapse. "We parents can't do anything about it. We're helpless."

Wang is staying with an aunt in Guangdong Province. She said by telephone that the mayor of her township near Dujiangyan had called her several times to ask her to fly back by July 25 to sign the contract in exchange for 68,000 Yuan in cash and an unspecified pension amount.

When Wang told the mayor the airplane ticket was too expensive, he said he would pay for it out of his own pocket if needed. "I think the higher government must have placed a lot of pressure on the community government," Wang said. "They're very nervous and pressed us so urgently to sign the paper."

Wang said she was told the ruins of Xinjian Primary School would be cleared away by Aug. 1.

Other schools have already suffered that fate: Last Saturday, the remains of Fuxin No. 2 Primary School were cleared out, said Zhang Longfu, whose daughter died there.

"All the parents from the school have signed the agreement, although we're not very satisfied with it," Zhang said. "We're still thinking of petitioning later."

Before sunset on Monday, Yu walked along a river running past the eastern wall of the school compound. Peering over the wall, one could see piles of bricks and concrete strewn all over the ground. Yu pointed out the few standing ruins of the main building. His daughter Yang's classroom had been on the fourth floor.

"We could hear them under the rubble," he said. "We passed them milk and water, but it was no use."

Would the parents try protesting again? he was asked.

"We don't dare," he said.




[ 本帖最后由 ltbriar 于 2008-8-1 09:19 编辑 ]

荡漾

【译文】
来自中国汉旺镇报道：
        上周的一个晚上有人到Yu TingYun（以下简译为余，其他家长姓名维持拼音) 住的村子里找他，让余上车，拿出一份申请书和一只笔让余签字。

        余的女儿在512大地震中不幸遇难，所在的汉旺镇一所高中至少有240个学生被埋废墟。余成了这些学生家长的组织者。他们要求知道这所学校是否像其他许多所学校一样是豆腐渣工程。

        那天警察在长时间盘问余后把申请书递到他面前，许诺给余一笔现金作为赔偿，另加一份扶助金；这不仅用来交换余的沉默，也代表了中国共产党“呼吁全社会来帮助我们”的爱心。

        余先前曾经拒绝过，但这次他签了。

        42岁的余轻声说：“看到大多数家长都签了申请书，我也签了。”余的肩挎包里随身带着镶好的女儿Yang的画像。

        对四所倒塌学校遇难学生的十几位家长采访中得知，四川省相关地方政府对在地震中失去子女愤怒的家长联合展开“封口”行动。强迫这些家长在赔偿申请书上签字，威胁说如果不签将一分钱都得不到。

        中国官方曾许诺说地震之后奥运之前保证高度公开透明。如今却自相矛盾地要求这些家长保持沉默。

        当局日夜去敲家长的家门，希望早点将申请书给签了。有个在外地的母亲甚至被告知可由镇长为她买好回来的飞机票。

        赔偿金额标准不一，由各地政府决定。汉旺镇的家长据说可立即拿到的现金为60000人民币（折合8800美元），外加每位家长38000人民币的扶助金。

        除了给家长封口费之外，防暴警察驱散家长的抗议行动、新闻媒体被要求停止相关报道、当地政府已开始清理尚存的校舍残亘（这样一来调查就无法进行下去）、人权支持者Huang Qi，试图给家长提供帮助，现已被捕。当局通过这种种行动力图强压下对豆腐渣工程的追究。

        看起来起效果了，尽管对当局开出的条件并不满意，对学校倒塌未采取实质性调查仍然表示愤怒，大多数家长还是在申请书上签了字。

        Liu GuanYuan，44岁，17岁的儿子死在东汽中学废墟中（也是Yu女儿的葬身之所）。他说：“大多数家长都精疲力尽了”“俗话说得好‘民不与官斗’”。

        倒塌的学校是摆在中国政府面前最头疼的问题。许多家长指责当地官员不仅对学校建筑质量毫不关心甚至还拒绝调查。有些家长说他们现在的希望全寄托在中央政府身上，他们计划奥运后去北京上访。

        余说：“我们不想在奥运前给政府添麻烦”“我们不想破坏国家的形象。”

        周一一位记者安排在东汽中学中死亡的学生家长或亲戚，包括余在内共11人在一家茶坊（里面有男人们光着膀子打麻将）进行采访。他们表示愿意冒险接受记者采访目的是希望借此能让中央政府听见他们的呼声。

        上周余和其他10位家长在一次抗议行动中被警察拘留。他在德阳市附近的警察局里被盘问了12个小时；而其他参加抗议行动的家长，包括一位孕妇，挨了警察的打。

        Huang Lianfen，33岁，一家工厂的经理，她18岁的外甥被埋在东汽中学废墟里。Huang说：“地方政府用挨打处罚来威胁我们”。男孩的父亲上周被警察拘留但拒绝在申请书上签字。

        她说：“我们需要的不仅是赔偿，还有公理。”

        周一，这些家长和德阳（辖管汉旺）代理市长第四次见面。张金明，德阳市代理副市长，口头告知家长政府调查的结果：学校倒塌的原因就是地震所致。同时通知家长调查到此结束。

        记者致电四川省政府办公厅和德阳市府办公室，无人回应。警察局一位接电话的女士表示她对上周的抗议和拘留并不知情。

        《纽约时报》记者拿到了一份汉旺家长收到的申请书。“为此，特申请政府组织协调社会各个方面帮助我们解决社保扶助和特殊救助。”“今后，我们将在党和政府的领导下，遵守法律，自觉维护灾后重建的社会秩序，决不参加影响灾后重建大局的任何活动。”

        申请书上还写着对共产党的感激之情：“天灾无情，人间有爱，党委和政府及时伸出了强有力的关爱之手，动员社会方方面面深切地对我们开展疏导关怀，帮助我们走出痛苦的境地，解决地震造成的困难。为此我们对党委、政府的真情关怀、强有力帮助和社会的关爱表示衷心感谢。”

        申请书上未注明赔付金额，家长说基本都是口头告之。

        还有更多家长也被要求签申请书。他们的孩子所在学校和汉旺这里一样，学校倒塌了，周围的建筑物却完好。这些学校包括都江堰新建小学、聚源的聚源中学和绵竹富新二小。

        Wang Lan，8岁的儿子在富新学校倒塌中死亡，说：“我听说这个学校的大部分家长都签了”“我们家长很绝望，无能为力。”

        Wang现在和阿姨待在广东。她都江堰附近家所在镇的镇长多次打电话要求7月25日前一定要回去签申请书，才能得到68000人民币的现金和一笔未说明具体金额的扶助金。

        Wang告诉镇长飞机票太贵，镇长当即表态即使个人掏钱买机票也行。“我猜可能上级部门给了下级部门很多压力”Wang说，“他们非常紧张，逼我们快点签掉申请书。”

        Wang听说富新小学废墟8月1日前会被清理干净。

        其他学校的情况也一样。Zhang Longfu（女儿因富新二小倒塌而死亡） 说上周六学校已经被夷为平地。

        “所有的家长都签了，虽然我们不满意”Zhang说，“我们打算以后再上访。”

        周一太阳快下山的时候，余沿着女儿生前就读学校东墙边的小河慢慢走着，透过学校那道墙，只能看到砖头混凝土一片狼藉。余指着教学楼废址（女儿杨的教室过去在四楼）说：“当时我们能听到他们埋在石块里”“我们给他们牛奶和水，但没用。”

        当问起是否家长还会组织抗议行动时余说：“不敢了。”

荡漾

原帖由 荡漾 于 2008-7-25 12:56 发表
此报道其他媒体已登载，望稍后

sorry, 报道已译好:  http://www.anti-cnn.com/forum/cn/thread-84036-1-1.html

本贴楼主所提供的原文中多2个小段落, 大意如下: 1. 作者认为中国在经济发展的过程中似乎习惯在遇到某些"难题"时用钱去收买. 2. 有些家长对赔偿金额表示不满, 认为死亡的如果是高中生的家长应该比小学生的拿到更多, 因为对他们来说再养育一个孩子的可能性更小.

中文普通话

这是比较典型的中国问题，说明中国在处理危机时还是不能有效地依法办事。
不过这种事情需要听不同的声音，尤其是政府的解释。西方媒体有一个特点真真假假，不怕说错就怕不说。不知道《纽约时报》记者致电政府的“无人回应”是无人来解释，还是无人接听电话。记者找的是谁？