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Grieving Chinese Parents' Protest Spurs Police Clamp Down

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The Associated Press

Published: June 4, 2008

DUJIANGYAN, China - Angry parents whose children were killed in an earthquake-stricken school shouted "Oh, my child!" and "Tell us something!" when police forcefully removed them Tuesday from a protest outside a courthouse.

The police action was the clearest signal yet that authorities are hardening their stance against the impromptu displays of public anger over the May 12 earthquake that collapsed schools and killed thousands of children.

The students' deaths have become the focus for Chinese, both inside and outside the quake zone, fueling accusations about corruption in school construction. The brewing public anger has become a political challenge and threatens to turn popular sentiment against the authoritarian government as it copes with aiding millions displaced by the disaster.

Aggrieved parents and even rescuers have pointed to steel rods in broken concrete slabs that were thinner than a ball point pen among the 7,000 classrooms that were destroyed.

"Oh, my child!" one woman wailed as officers took the arms of the parents gathered outside the courthouse in this resort town. "Tell us something!" other parents shouted as they were led away. Their children had died in the Juyuan Middle School.

Journalists were then dragged up the courthouse steps by police - "For your safety!" they shouted. The journalists included an Associated Press reporter and two photographers who were held inside and questioned for a half-hour before being let go, after the protesters had been moved away.

The government has taken some steps to try to help grieving parents. On Tuesday, Beijing began giving compensation to some families whose children were killed - about $144 a year to each parent who lost an only child. The Ministry of Civil Affairs also announced that parents who had lost their only child had first priority in adopting children orphaned by the disaster.

Meanwhile, the death toll from the quake rose Tuesday to 69,107 and relief efforts continued.

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