Dozens of Farmers Detained After Protest in Guangxi Province—Claims of Beatings in Police Custody
China Labour Bulletin, 3 October 2002
According to a local witness, nearly 30,000 sugarcane farmers from the
rural areas surrounding Yizhou city in Guangxi province protested
against the local government on September 12. The farmers were
protesting against the low raw sugarcane prices and delaying of the
second payment for 2001-2002 (Note 1) by the local sugar refinery,
Boqing Foodstuffs Co. Ltd. On that day, enraged farmers stormed the
government building and smashed plaques hung on the walls. One read
Serve the People
and the other concerned Jiang Zemin's
Three Represents Theory
(Note 2). The farmers also blocked the
main Guizhou-Guangxi railway for six hours. Following the incident,
the Yizhou government immediately began combing the surrounding towns
and villages and arresting protest leaders. On October 2, a farmer
from the Beishan township told us that a number of people were still
in detention.
Farmer:
They detained a number of people—some have been released but others are still banged up. Most of the people picked up are from Beishan township.
Han:
That's where you are from?
Farmer:
Yes.
Han:
How many people from your township are still in detention?
Farmer:
Seven or eight people.
Han:
Seven or eight?
Farmer:
About that. The situation at the moment is?the government?well basically we daren't go and ask the government about them [the detained leaders]. Nobody wants to take that risk. On September 2, people from our village went to the sugar factory, but nobody from here took part in the attack on the government building.
Han:
I see. Nobody from your village attacked the government building on September 12?
Farmer:
Nobody. But they're saying that our township was a flashpoint?
Han:
The government is saying the whole thing was organised by Beishan farmers and are therefore picking up people from your area?
Farmer:
That's what they're saying at any rate.
Han:
Do you know the names [of any of the people arrested]?
Farmer:
Yes.
Han:
Can you tell me their names?
Farmer:
Lu Linkun, Zhu Zhuangchun, Xie Jixing, Lu Linhe and another guy called Chen Jifeng.
Han:
These five people are still in detention?
Farmer:
Yes. They are still inside.
The farmer also told me how the protest had developed since September 2. He said that the farmers started negotiations with the sugar factory but didn't get anywhere. But after the attack on the government building, the price of sugarcane went up by Rmb 15 per tonne. In his view, this proved that the government was on shaky ground [when it forced the price down] (Note 3).
Farmer:
We went over there in the morning and asked the government leader to come out and negotiate a fair deal with us. They just kept saying the top man wasn't there. We got fed up and attacked the building and then blocked the railway. How else could we have got the attention of the government in Beijing if we didn't block the line?
Han:
I heard that the city mayor [Deng Qing—Ed.] (Note 4) is also the sugar factory boss. Is that right?
Farmer:
Yes. He's the managing director over there. The same guy who wouldn't come out to meet us. On the 2nd , we went to the factory but he wouldn't answer our questions. On the 8th, the [Yizhou city] government said go and ask back at Beishan township. We went there but the township government said they would only increase the price by five bucks a tonne. After the attack on the Yizhou city government on the 12th, the sugarcane price went up by another ten bucks. Altogether that's a Rmb 15 buck increase! It looks to us like they were in the wrong.
Han:
Fifteen bucks a tonne increase?
Farmer:
Yes. More than Rmb 180 in total [plus the second payment—Ed]. Everyone here is saying that if the arrested people are sentenced, we will protest again to higher authorities.
Han:
Do you know which country the sugar factory partner is from?
Farmer:
The UK (Note 5).
Han:
Do you know how much the British partner is paying per tonne?
Farmer:
We've heard it's Rmb 260?and the factory is supposed to pay for the transportation.
Han:
And just Rmb 150 per tonne ends up in the farmers' pocket?
Farmer:
Plus the second payment of twenty-odd bucks [Rmb22 per tonne—Ed], it should be 170 [-odd] bucks per tonne altogether. It's late in coming though. It's still not enough to get by on.
Next, I telephoned the house of a farmer who was released on September 30. His daughter told me that her father was beaten in the police cells.
Daughter:
He got out the day before yesterday, in the evening.
Han:
Was he beaten while he was in the lock up?
Daughter:
Yes, he was beaten.
Han:
And was he injured?
Daughter:
Yes. So were other people.
Han:
Who are you?
Daughter:
I am his daughter.
Han:
Are you still at school?
Daughter:
No. I am fifteen now (laughing).
Han:
Why don't you go to school?
Daughter:
No money.
Han:
Did you get through middle school?
Daughter:
Middle school? I didn't get past primary! (laughs)
Han:
When did you stop going to school?
Daughter:
1998.
Han:
When you were eleven years old?
Daughter:
Yes. We are poor and can't afford to send me to school.
Han:
So what do you do now?
Daughter:
Farm work. I look after the cows.
Han:
Everyday?
Daughter:
Yes.
Han:
Do you have any brothers and sisters?
Daughter:
Two older brothers. They are not at school either. They're two years older than me (laughs).
Han:
How long did they go to school for?
Daughter:
Middle school, first grade.
I telephoned the Beishan government offices where an official covering for staff on leave [for the National Day holidays] told me that the government was organising meetings with the farmers in order to carry out education on the legal system and laws. He refused to comment on whether anyone had been beaten while in detention.
Official:
It's all pretty much cleared up now. We've been doing mass education work—legal education.
Han:
How is this being done?
Official:
We've been organising mass meetings for a few days now. The meetings have made everyone much clearer and people were released within two days.
Han:
We have reports that some farmers were beaten up. Do you know anything about this?
Official:
No. I have heard nothing like that. It didn't happen!
Han:
I have just this minute been talking on the phone to a farmer's family. They told me people were seriously beaten in the lock up.
Official:
Nothing like that happened.
Han:
They just told me—just before I rang you.
Official:
It sounds highly unlikely. I know the public security people well and have asked them about that sort of thing. They told me that on the whole they don't beat people up. Nothing like that happened. The farmers are busy on the land quietly getting on with their lives and growing cane.
Finally, to find out more about the legal education, I rang a household where a farmer had just been released by the authorities. He said he had already been beaten into silence and didn't want to say any more about it.
Farmer:
Was inside for fifteen days!
Han:
Did they go through the correct procedures?
Farmer:
Yes.
Han:
Like what?
Farmer:
I daren't say.
Han:
Why not?
Farmer:
I? I don't know anything.
Han:
I heard that you were beaten up. Is that true?
Farmer:
No! No, no, no, no, no, no! I can't talk. I'm sorry, I can't talk.
Han:
Why not?
Farmer:
I can't say why. I just can't say!
(Another voice nearby interposes:
We've been got at. We are
afraid
)
Farmer:
We dare not say anything.
(Same voice as above:
We've been beaten up. We are really
afraid
).
Farmer:
We can't talk.
Han:
Why?. What are you afraid of?
Farmer:
Of being beaten. All of us. We dare not talk.
Han:
Who has beaten you?
Farmer:
We don't know. We're bad people. We daren't talk!
Han:
What do you mean you're bad people?
Farmer:
I am not saying.
Han:
Why are you bad people?
Farmer:
We don't know.
Han:
What charge were you locked up on?
Farmer:
We don't know that either.
Han:
Didn't they make you sign detention papers?
Farmer:
I can't say. I'm afraid! I'm afraid of all this business.
Han:
Afraid of what?
Farmer:
We're all afraid.
(Same voice as above:
they are beating people into silence
).
Han:
Who are you afraid of?
Farmer:
I am too scared. I can't say.
Han:
What of?
Farmer:
I don't know.
Han:
Is it because your demands are unreasonable?
Farmer:
Oh Jesus? I can't talk about this anymore.
Han:
Are you suffering from injuries right now?
Farmer:
My feet and hands are numb. There's no feeling in them.
Han:
No feeling in you feet and hands?
Farmer:
Yes!
Han:
How did that happen?
Farmer:
I daren't say. If I do they will beat us again. They'll lock us up again. Goodbye. (Puts the phone down).
Notes
(1) The normal harvest season is October-April in which Boqing buys the sugar cane from the farmers. This is the first payment. The second payment refers to the mark-up payment at a 'floating price', which is set after the harvest season by relevant authorities based on the market price of sugar. The 'floating price' of Rmb 22 in question was released on August 20, and the farmers still have not received the payment by August 28.
(2) The Three Represents Theory
is put forward by Jiang Zemin,
calling on the Communist Party of China to always represent the
development trend of China's advanced productive forces, the
progressing orientation of China's advanced culture and the
fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese
people.
(4) To the sugarcane farmers, Boqing is linked to the city government because of their close relations in terms of organisation and leadership. The Chinese partner of Boqing is Yizhou City Shibie Sugar Refinery, which is a subsidiary of Yizhou City Sugar Company (Group). And Boqing's general manager is also the mayor of Yizhou City. At the time of the interview, it was not certain whether the increased payment was made by the local government, the city sugar enterprise or Boqing.
(3)Follow-up information confirms that Deng Qing has been removed from his office after the demonstration but stays as Boqing's general manager.
(5) The UK capital in question is the British Sugar Corp (Overseas) (BSO), a subsidiary of Associated British Foods Ltd. and is mainly engaged in expanding sugar-related business outside Britain. Its first joint venture in China is Boqing Foodstuffs Co. Ltd. which was incorporated in 1995 in Yizhou city, Guangxi Province. BSO controls 60 percent of the joint venture's stake while the Chinese partner, Yizhou City Shibie Sugar Refinery takes up the remaining 40 percent.