China quake activist on trial for subversion: lawyer

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Survey raises questions over China quake donations: report
Chinese researchers investigating how 11 billion dollars donated by the public after the Sichuan earthquake was used found the government was reluctant to fund aid groups trying to help victims, a report said Wednesday. By the end of April, individuals and companies had donated 76.71 billion yuan (11.23 billion dollars) to the government and quake relief groups, the China Youth Daily said, quoting the survey by Tsinghua University. But according to the investigation of donations given in seven provinces, most of the money that was donated to the Red Cross and other non-governmental organisations was actually also used by the government. "Eighty percent of public donations eventually went to the government and actually became extra-tax income to be used for disaster areas," the paper said, citing the survey. Team leader Deng Guosheng told the paper the government should be more open about the funds and distribute money to cash-strapped groups which he said were struggling to continue their work in the quake-devastated region. Three million volunteers and 300 civil organisations went to the affected areas in the immediate aftermath of the May 2008 disaster but only 50,000 volunteers and 50 groups remain, Deng said. "They lack funds and resources and it's hard for them to continue their work. That's a very important reason" for the government to hand over quake donations, said Deng, associate professor of the NGO Research Institute at Tsinghua University. Deng said the government should not shoulder the whole burden itself but encourage other groups and charities and enable them to play their role in the disaster recovery effort. "Although sometimes the government does better than the NGOs, the government should give NGOs opportunities, otherwise if the government covers everything the development of NGOs will get worse," he was quoted as saying. "If the government does not give them the opportunity, they will become weaker." The state-run paper said Chinese scholars doing research in the quake-hit areas found that many of the NGOs were using their own money to continue their work in the absence of government funding. The massive magnitude-8.0 earthquake left nearly 88,000 people dead or missing, flattening entire cities and towns and destroying schools, hospitals, homes, buildings and factories in nearly 50,000 villages.

by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Aug 12, 2009
A Chinese activist who was investigating whether shoddy construction caused school collapses in last year's massive Sichuan earthquake went on trial Wednesday for subversion, his lawyer said.

Environmental activist and writer Tan Zuoren was charged with "inciting subversion of state power" for allegedly defaming the ruling Communist Party and the government over their handling of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989.

However, rights group Amnesty International said that Tan's earthquake investigation was likely to be the real reason behind his detention.

Tan's brief trial in Chengdu, capital of southwest Sichuan province, ended without a verdict, Pu Zhiqiang, one of his two lawyers, said.

"The trial was terrible. Three witnesses were not allowed by the court to attend the trial. We believe it's against the law," Pu told AFP.

"Also, the video evidence we had was not allowed to be played in court and our speeches were often interrupted," he said.

"I'm not optimistic about his fate although the verdict was not announced.

"In fact, he is just an environmental activist, not a dissident."

Pu said the charges against Tan, who pleaded not guilty, mainly concerned his speeches about the Tiananmen crackdown on June 4, 1989 and interviews given to the foreign press.

Tan's wife, Wang Qinghua, said the trial ended at midday.

"The court did not announce the verdict and they did not tell me when they would announce it," she said.

"I believe that he's not guilty and will be released soon because I can't find any evidence that supports the charges."

A court official contacted by AFP refused to acknowledge the trial was being held, even though it was announced on the court website as starting at 9:20 am.

"I'm not aware of it," he said.

Apart from Tan's wife and daughter, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said, most of the 40 people who attended the trial were government employees while parents of students killed in the quake were barred.

Amnesty said local sources believed Tan's detention earlier this year was linked to his plan to issue an independent report on the collapse of school buildings in the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which left nearly 88,000 people dead or missing.

Schools bore the brunt of the quake, with thousands collapsing on top of students, fuelling angry charges from parents that corruption had led to shoddy construction.

"Whether commenting on the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown or seeking answers for the deaths during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Tan Zuoren was doing nothing more than exercising his right to freedom of expression guaranteed in China's constitution," Roseann Rife, Asia-Pacific deputy director at Amnesty, said in a statement.

"To equate this with subversion denies not only his rights and those of the victims he is assisting and commemorating but also makes a mockery of criminal law and procedure."

Dissident Huang Qi, another campaigner for the parents of children killed in the quake, is also awaiting a verdict after his three-hour trial in Chengdu last week on a charge of illegally possessing state secrets.

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