A coalmine accident last year left Mr. Li seriously disabled and unable to perform any physical labor. Mr. Li said that Chinese coalminers do not have any security and usually don’t receive workers’ compensation after mining disasters occur.
Under the CCP’s rule, only the privileged have access to China’s social resources, while the ordinary people struggle to survive, explained Li. According to Li, when he submitted a claim for compensation, no real action was taken by any of the responsible departments. The courts also did not accept Li’s case.
“The CCP is like a group of scoundrels. When I say that I am a miner who had an accident, [those people] don’t even care. They only protect the actual mining site. The CCP should have long been removed from power,” said Li.
During his hospitalization after the mine accident, Li met many disabled miners with similar stories. The other miners were also refused compensation by their employers. The coal mines only paid the miners 10 yuan (US$1.46) per day for medication and another 10 yuan ($1.46) per day for living expenses during their hospitalization. Once the miners are discharged, the coal mines provide no further compensation, leaving them without any income.
After meeting miners with the similar plight, Li called for a demonstration in Beijing. He believes that demonstrations are the more effective than individual appeals. Li also dislikes appealing to the regime because it feels like “begging the CCP”.
“I want to protect human rights of China’s miners…they are all helpless, hospitalized and disabled,” said Li, “I feel guilty for not having stood up for them [earlier].”
During the Beijing Olympic Games, Li was put under house arrest for two months for his participation in a demonstration in Beijing urging compensation for disabled miners.
Li said that the CCP is a dictatorship that forbids people from forming other political parties or participating in public affairs. Li said, “If anyone tried to establish a new political party in China, he would be arrested immediately.”
According to Li, the state tightly controls the media so that it only sings the praises of the CCP and never reports on any negative news or issues. He said that the people are all brainwashed by the media.
Li expressed that while the CCP media praises the so called openness and reform in China during the past 30 years, the Chinese people may not necessarily been well off. He said, “In other countries, the nation is prosperous and the people are rich and powerful. In China, the regime is prosperous while the people are poor and powerless.”
Read this article in the original Chinese.
