美国国家公共电台 NPR As China's Coal Mines Close, Miners Are Becoming Bolder In Voicing Demands

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

China's economy has had a spectacular run. But last year, it grew at its slowest pace in 26 years. And as it attempts to transform an economy based on building things to one based on consumers buying things, Beijing is making painful cuts. Millions of workers in the country's state-run coal and steel sectors¹ are being laid off.

But as NPR's Rob Schmitz reports, those on the losing end of China's big economic transformation² will not go down without a fight.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE³: The streets of Dalianhe are lined with black snow. The town in China's frigid⁴ Northeast is home to one of China's largest open-pit coal mines. Workers drive me through its front gate into a massive gorge⁵ with cliffs the color of ink.

We are now in what is this enormous canyon⁶ of coal. And my ears are popping because we're descending⁷ pretty quickly here.

Thousands of feet below, it's silent but for the sound of melting snow. It didn't used to be this way. Thousands used to work inside this mine on the northern fringe of China's rust⁸ belt. It was established in 1960 during the height of Mao's China.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SCHMITZ: Back then, the Communist Party considered this region a worker's paradise where coal mines and steel mills employed millions. Now it's littered with deserted⁹ fossils of a bygone era. The 21st century's communist leaders are transforming China's economy into a paradise for consumers. They've ordered inefficient¹⁰ state-run mines like this one to close.

A dozen workers fill a tiny room whose only decoration is a painting of Chairman Mao. They're big, brawny¹¹ men, and working at their hometown mine is the only job they've ever known. They work for Longhua Harbin Coal Company, a subsidiary of China National Coal Group, the third-largest coal mining company in the world. Longhua has told the 4,000 workers here they'll all be out of a job by the year's end.

The mine will be shut, wiping out the town's main source of revenue. Worker Wang Fuxiang says they'll soon be the poorest residents of an already poor region.

WANG FUXIANG: (Through interpreter) President Xi says nobody should be left behind on the road to China's prosperity. But now we won't be able to feed ourselves. If they paid us our pensions and health insurance, we'd at least be able to survive.

SCHMITZ: Forty-year-old Wu Songtao doesn't know where he's going to find work now. His grandfather worked at this mine in the 1930s when the Japanese ran it. And his father worked at the mine after the communists took over. Mining coal is all he knows.

WU SONGTAO: (Through interpreter) This is a dangerous job. Accidents have killed dozens of workers here. We've risked our lives for this mine and we earn just enough to afford cabbage. Now we won't be able to take care of our parents or children.

SCHMITZ: Wu's son is 18. He's about to graduate from high school

WU: (Through interpreter) Honestly, my only dream now is that my son can someday become a government official. That way, he can take bribes¹² and live well. In the People's Republic of China, only officials and their businessmen friends become rich.

SCHMITZ: According to brochures Longhua distributed to workers, the company is offering a severance¹³ of $500 times the number of years they've worked - no more pension, no health insurance, just a lump sum of money. Longhua also offered a $5,000 bonus for employees who took this offer before the end of last year. Not a single worker out of 4,000 signed up.

Labor¹⁴ unions are banned in China, so they've organized over WeChat, a popular social media app.

WU: (Through interpreter) We have multiple chat groups devoted¹⁵ to discussing the severance and investigating corruption¹⁶ among the company's leadership.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Foreign language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Foreign language spoken).

SCHMITZ: Workers have posted videos like this one, a protest in front of company headquarters and another from a demonstration¹⁷ in Beijing, where they've attracted the attention of netizens and labor groups. But in China, social media is a double-edged sword. It also attracts the attention of police. That's what happens in the middle of our interview.

A local officer has infiltrated¹⁸ the workers' WeChat group and seen video of them talking to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Foreign language spoken).

SCHMITZ: His timing¹⁹ is impeccable. He arrives as the workers tell me they're not scared of the ramifications²⁰ of speaking to a foreign journalist. The officer orders me to turn my recorder off and checks my journalist card.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Foreign language spoken).

SCHMITZ: After he leaves, the workers reassure²¹ me. Don't worry, there's 4,000 of us and just a dozen of them. They wouldn't dare bother you - famous last words. Fast forward to the next morning.

It's now 6:30 in the morning, and I've just gotten a call saying that the police from Dalianhe, where I was yesterday talking to workers, have come to Harbin, three hours away, where I'm now staying at a hotel. And they're waiting for me downstairs in the lobby. They apparently²² have been here since 2:30 in the morning. They want me to hand over the recordings²³, and they've also said that they've contacted the airport and they're not going to let me leave. Hotel staff is not allowing them to come up to my room. So we've got a bit of a standoff here.

They forced Wu Songtao, one of the younger workers I interviewed, to come with them. After some back and forth²⁴, they finally settle on having me come downstairs so that Mr. Wu can record himself saying that everything he said yesterday, his anger with the company, the severance package and with being unemployed²⁵, is a lie. So I take the elevator to the lobby where an exhausted²⁶ Mr. Wu waits.

WU: (Through interpreter) They want me to tell you that everything I said isn't true. They're asking me to lie.

SCHMITZ: Dalianhe's police chief and Longhua's Communist Party secretary are waiting for him outside. He tells me they don't want me to record or take pictures of them. But that's where I go to ask them questions. By the time I get outside, they've run away. Back inside the lobby, Mr. Wu is desperate to get this over with.

He asks me to listen to his statement while both he and I record him.

WU: (Through interpreter) Everything I said yesterday was a lie. I didn't see things clearly. I don't want you to air this story.

SCHMITZ: I tell Wu that I hear what he's saying, but that I still plan to air this story. He nods and walks outside. After I return to Shanghai, I reach the company that owns the Longhua mine. They issued a statement. We're following the relevant laws. Everything is going well, and we don't want to trouble you with a return to Harbin. Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Heilongjiang Province, China.

1 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

5 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

6 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

7 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

8 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

9 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

10 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

11 brawny   

adj.强壮的

参考例句：

• The blacksmith has a brawny arm.铁匠有强壮的胳膊。
• That same afternoon the marshal appeared with two brawny assistants.当天下午，警长带着两名身强力壮的助手来了。

12 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

13 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

14 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

15 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

16 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

17 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

18 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

19 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

20 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

22 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

23 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

24 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

25 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

26 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。