(Sohu.com via Rednet)

On January 9, China Trade News' Shanxi bureau reporter Lang Changzhang was beaten to death at a Datong city coal mine.  The newspaper and the Shanxi authorities differed in their opinions about whether Lang Changzhang was a reporter.  The following is an interview with Datong city General Administration of Press and Publications division director Liu Dongyue.

Q: How is the case about Lan Chengzhang's death coming along?
A: The suspects have not been apprehended.  The purpose and goal of Lan's visit to the coal mine are still unclear.  The police are investigating.
 
Q: Datong city published a notice to strike against fake reporters on January 10.  Has anyone telephoned to denounce fake reporters?
A: Not yet.

Q: When Luliang city (Shanxi province) began its own campaign against fake journalism, they found 80 fake reporters within 100 days.  Are there a lot of fake reporters in Datong city?
A: There are many coal mines in Shanxi.  There are fake reporters in Datong city.  We have heard about it, but there are very few crime reports and testimonies.  Many of the extorted units would rather "pay them off."  This has emboldened the fake reporters to the point where they are now a public menace.

Q: Is anyone without a <Reporter's Identification> a fake reporter?
A: Strictly speaking, that is a fake reporter because the General Administration of Press and Publications has its regulations.

Q: Do the Datong media often hire temporary reporters?
A: Quite a lot.  This happens across China, not just in Datong.  Therefore, our anti-fakery campaign is intended to regulate this.  Whenever Datong city holds an event, there is a publicity committee formed by the city party committee's publicity department, the General Administration Press and Publication and other relevant departments to greet the reporters and verify their legal status as reporters.

Q: Has Datong city conducted any anti-fakery campaign previously?
A: Yes.  Certain media forge reporter passes.  Certain units are not even media units.  But in order to hold events easier or avoid the toll charges, they forge reporter passes.  Last year, we confiscated many fake reporter passes.

Q: Are there any steps taken beyond confiscating fake ID's?
A: We have an idea right now, but it has not been solidified.  We want to publish the names, photographs and circumstances of those people with fake identification.  We want to publish the information and describe the facts, so that the various units can be alerted and not have to receive those fake reporters.  The various departments will still have to consider whether this is a violation of the image rights of the fake reporters.  When we act against illegal activities, we must make sure that what we do is legal.

(Southern Metropolis Daily) Datong city cannot use "fake reporter" as excuse to let the killers escape.  By Chang Ping.  January 17, 2007.

On January 9, a man was assaulted at a coal mine in Datong (Shanxi) and subsequently died at the hospital.  The local media did not report the case after learning about it, because they supposed did not know whether this was a reporter or extortionist.  It seems that they will not report the deaths of people of uncertain identity.  If there were an airplane disaster in Shanxi, nobody will find out.

Fortunately, there are the Internet and the netizens.  Someone made a post on the Internet and claimed that the deceased Lan Chengzhang was a reporter at the Shanxi bureau of China Trade News.  Lan had gone to Hunyuan county (Datong city) with a colleague to investigate an illegal unlicensed coal mine.  He was attacked by a group of thugs under the direction of the mine boss.  He died after he reached the hospital.  Then someone pointed out that Lan Chengzhang was not a reporter.  He had gone to the mine to extort money, and died after a fight when the discussions failed.

It seemed that nobody cared about who carried out the assault and whether he is the owner of an illegal mine.  The focus was turned to whether the deceased was a fake reporter.  China Trade News has already confirmed that Lan Chengzhang was their reporter.  But the local government seemed far more interested in catching fake reporters than pursuing illegal mines.  Three days after the incident, they published the <Notice on the special Datong city project to combat fake magazines, fake newspapers and fake reporters.>  The notice claimed that "all those who do not hold a Reporter Identification from the General Administration of Press and Publications but engage in news gathering are fake reporters.  It is illegal for fake reporters to gather news, and the interview subjects have the right to refuse."

This "anti-fakery" project had a special leadership group.  A worker in the leadership group was interviewed by a reporter and said that Lan Chengzhang has been identified as a temporary worker at the Shanxi Bureau of China Trade News and therefore not a reporter since he does not own a Reporter Identification.  Therefore, one cannot say that a reporter was beaten to death.  This worker even said that one cannot say that someone was beaten to death, since Lan Chengzhang died in a hospital.  So it seemed that nothing actually happened, except that a person died in a hospital!

I don't know whether Lan Chengzhang went to gather news or extort money.  But it is ignorant and shameful to excuse the thugs using extortion.  Under the law, violence can be justified in proper self-defense.  I have never heard that one can kill someone because of extortion.  Besides, if this was really an illegal mine and someone wants to extort money by threatening exposure, it is very different from the usual kind of extortion.  The Datong authorities skirted around this fact and put the problem on what they believed is the Reporter Identification.

A formal local government notice defined all reporters without the Reporter Identification as fake reporters and declare their news gathering activities to be illegal.  They even set up a special project for this.  This is very ignorant and savage.  The system of professional qualification for reporters began in 2003 with the intention of training and testing the several hundred thousand news reporters before issuing Reporter Identification to them.  According to the regulations at the time, certain people have a five-year transition period.  In March 2005, the <News Reporter Identification Administration Rules>, the new rules removed the restriction of issuing Reporter Identification only to those who gather news and expanded the possibility to those who were formally employed by a news organization but not actually engaged in news gathering.  But the rules require that the applicants be employed for at least one year and worked in news gathering.  Based upon these two sets of rules and regulations, there should be and always will be real reporters without Reporter Identification -- after all, how can you engage in one year of news gathering before you receive the Reporter Identification?

Of course, the relevant departments can re-interpret these flawed rules and regulations.  But the undeniable fact is that many reporters in China do not have Reporter Identification.  Many of them are righteous and professional and they do excellent reporting.  When Datong city openly attack these reporters, the chief editors around China should stand up and examine their consciences: Have you hire any of these "fake reporters"?  Are these "fake reporters" competent?  Should they be attacked?  Should they be protected?

As for the extortion, real and fake reporters stand equal before the law.  Based upon the known past incidents, real reporters are not less aggressive than fake reporters when it comes to extortion.  Just like using the temporary resident permit to define crime, this is against the spirit of the rule of law.

In truth, news professionals are unlike doctors, lawyers and accountants because there is no universal professional standard that can be tested.  Most nations in the world do not have any standards (or at least rigorous ones) for qualifying into this profession.  With the continual expansion of traditional media and the rapid development of new media, this is basically an impossible mission.  For example, if a person without a Reporter Identification witnessed a certain event.  Can he disseminate the information on the Internet?  When a person without a Reporter Identification goes to find out something about a Datong coal mine, should he be surrounded and beaten?

In the case of the death by assault in Datong, the real reporters there did not make a sound.  The netizens who distributed the information are being targeted by Datong city.  What will the outcome be?  What is the meaning of distinguishing real and fake this way?

(Southern Metropolis Daily)  By Tan Renwei.  January 18, 2007.

Lan Chengzhang's China Trade News employee ID

(in translation)

China Trade News' Shanxi bureau worker Lan Chengzhang was beaten to death at a certain coal mine in Hunyuan county, Shanxi province.  Our breaking report generated a huge response.  After our reporter arrived at the location and investigated, the process by which a coalmine warehouse keeper became a reporter and then died became gradually clearer.

According to an authoritative source who wishes to remain anonymous, China Trade News worker Lan Chengzhang and his group arrived just after noon of January 10 at the Shuigou village.  There were the eighth group of "reporters" who came to gather information about the coal mine on this day.  There were three people in the group.  Besides Lan Chengzhang, the others were the temporarily hired driver Cao and Lan's colleague Sheng.  According to the authoritative source, Chang is a 50-something-year-old man with an elementary school education.  He used to be load/unload cargo.  He comes from the same village as China Trade News' Shanxi bureau chief Chang Xuri.  Chang went to the coal mine with the identity as the English-language reporting director of the China Trade News' Shanxi Bureau while Lan Chengzhang's identity was the special topic center director.

A friend of the driver Cao who has declined to show himself so far narrated Cao's account to the reporter yesterday.  Cao said that Lan and Chang first went to a small coal mine in the Siwangpu village, Daren town.  Someone there said, "You go to the office.  Someone will receive you."  Then they took the newspaper's letter of introduction to the Shuigou village office which was several kilometers away.  At the time, there was only one person inside.  There was some conversation.  Cao did not reveal what was said.  After some conversation, the other party picked up the telephone and made a few calls.  Lan and Cao sensed that something was not right and immediately went out.  They waited in the car for Sheng, who did not come out.

Shortly afterwards, two cars came and trapped their car from front and behind.  Several bald-headed men came down from the car.  Lan opened the car door and sprinted away.  After he ran a few meters, he heard the bald-headed men said: "You punk!  If you dare to run, we'll kill you!"  So Lan came back.  The driver was restrained by one bald-headed man.  Lan was restrained by two bald-headed men in the back seat.  According to Shiukou village people, the people from the mine are tough and they dare not interfere with what they do.  Then the bald-headed men took the Lan and Cao back into the office.  When they went in, Cao saw that Sheng's arm had been broken already.  Lan told the bald-headed men: "Do not beat him (meaning the driver Cao).  You can beat me."  In the ensuing struggle, Lan grabbed the collar of one of them.  The other party said, "Are you going to let go or not?"  Lan did not let go.  So one iron bar crashed on Lan's shoulder.  Then his other arm was laid down on the desk and an iron bar smashed down again.  Now both his arms were broken.  Then one of his legs was broken too.

According to a villager who witnessed the process, the mine worker Hou Si slammed a pickaxe handle on the top of Lan's skull.  Blood streamed down Lan's head and covered his face.  He immediately passed out.  The attackers realized that things may have gone too far.  They poured water from the tea pot on Lan's head, but he did not come to.  Then someone used water to clean the floor.  They threatened the three of them not to depart until they received a telephone call.  If they should see them on the road before them, they will continue the beating.  Then the attackers left the scene.  Before leaving, they said, "We have your telephone numbers and addresses.  If you dare call the police, we'll kill your whole families!"

Fifteen minutes later, Cao picked up Lan and placed him in the vehicle.  Together with Sheng, Cao drover towards Datong city.  When they arrived at a toll booth, Lan regained conscious temporarily and only said: "My leg has been crippled."

According to the authoritative source, they arrived at the Datong city Number Five People's Hospital at 630pm.  Lan's brother-in-law Li Wenxian arrived shortly afterwards.  At 9:20am on the morning of January 11, Lan Chengzhang was pronounced dead.  At 9:30am, Lan's brother-in-law finally remembered to call 110.

The Qingciyao mine is one of the many state mines in Datong city.  Lan Chengzhang's late father was a worker in this mine, and his home was in a red-brick house in the mine.  Lan Chengzhang was born in 1972 and he continued to do the same work as his father.  When he grew up, he became a warehouse worker at the mine.  Lan Chengzhang's former supervisor Liu Jiujiang said: "Lan's personality cannot said to be special.  His daily work involved administering equipment such as bearings.  It is fairly routine.  He has two daughters from his marriage.  The five-year-old is ready to begin the school.  His wife does not have a fixed job.  So the 500 plus RMB in wages was inadequate.  More than a year ago, he left the unit.  The mine has stopped paying him wages, but we continue to provide pension and insurance."

After his father passed away, Lan Chengzhang's family moved out of the mine hill.  After leaving his job, Lan has only been back to the mine a few times.  According to Liu Jiujiang, he heard Lan explained that his new job was as "State Administration for Safe Production Supervision safety culture investigator" and his job was to investigate mine casualties and illegal mining.

When Lan Chengzhang left the mine, he became a worker at the Safety Education Weekly Periodical under Modern Consumer Guide in Shanxi province.  His status was not as a reporter.  He was a "safety cultural investigator."

The Modern Consumer Guide chief editor Chen told our reporter yesterday afternoon that Safety Education Weekly hired Lan Chengzhang and other workers in an expansion to meet increasing needs.  "The work of these 40 to 50 people is mainly to investigate the mines and bring safety culture to the grassroots."

There is an Internet post (Xici Hutong's Shanxi Newspaper Industry forum from netizen "Calling 110" with the title "Look at this!  This is really losing face for the Shanxi media!") denied this assertion.  The post said that the sole mission of this group of people is to extort the coal mines.  "If you have any illegal production situation, we can directly report to the State Administration for Safe Production Supervision."  A coal mine boss once called the State Administration for Safe Production Supervision and found out that there was no awareness about any "safety cultural investigator."  So the coal mines will report to the police when these people show up.

Concerning these Internet talk, Modern Consumer Guide's Chen admitted that it is true: "There were flaws during the hiring process.  Most of these workers are trouble-free.  They only have the right to investigate.  They are not real reporters."  Last June/July, Modern Consumer Guide came under pressure from their superiors and re-organized Safety Education Weekly.  "We got rid of that whole group of people."  After "leaving" Safety Education Weekly, Lan Chengzhang was hired by China Trade News' Shanxi bureau.

At the same time that Lan Chengzhang was heading towards Shuigou village in his car on the morning of January 10, Datong city was holding a business meeting on the "special project to combat fake newspapers, fake magazines and fake reporters."  According to the workers at the Datong city party publicity department's press/publishing division, they had begun planning on campaign against fake reporters six months ago.  As to the criticisms that this action was directed specifically at the Lan Chengzhang incident, they were angry because they believed that the two matters were totally unrelated.

Furthermore, they also said that a vice-president from China Trade News came and told them that Lan Chengzhang was a worker who follows up on news tips and cannot be said to be a reporter.

Yesterday afternoon, a member of the Datong city party public department information office said that the public security bureau has been instructed to solve the case with full effort.

(Xici Hutong's ReporterHome forum)  By Liushuang83314.  January 18, 2007.

[in translation]

At the famous coal mining city of Datong in Shanxi, the proliferation of fake reporters has been a huge concern to coal mine owners during the past two years.  In this  underground battle, the fake reporters can come from a small media outlet that cannot possibly have any reportage on the problems at coal miners -- these media publish soft articles and are struggling to survive, so their leader dream up all sorts of way to increase revenue and make the reporters at the news bureau come up with workers who are totally inexperienced in news gathering and who go around holding realistic identifications to commit extortion at the coal mines.  Since these illegal coal mines are engaged in production against the law and they are accustomed to spend money to deal with problems such as industrial casualties, they are quite content to spend ten thousand RMB to dispatch these unexpected reporters.  However, when these reporters who never write anything keep showing up day after day, they will think of solutions other than monetary payments.  Apart from black gold, the solution is assassination.  These are the two methods that can be used.

In the case of the death of Lan Chengzhang, fellow reporters are outraged.  But we are sorry to say that Lan Chengzhang's letter of introduction to gather news at the coal mine had a blank addressee.  The reporters had a brief conversation with the mine owner before they were attacked by the thugs.  The content of that conversation is unknown at this time.  Lan Chengzhang was the eighth group of reporters to show up to gather information at this illegal coal mine.  The first seven groups have not published any reports on this illegal coal mine.

Once I learned about the personal history of Lan Chengzhang, I am even more dubious.  He was hired recently by the Shanxi bureau of China Trade News and he held a news gathering permit and a letter of introduction when he went to the coal mine.  One and a half years ago, he was a warehouse worker.  The first job that he held after leaving the mine was as a highly controversial "safety cultural investigator under the Modern Consumer Guide -- the mission of the several dozens of investigators there was to "deliver safety culture to the grassroots" but actually some of them claimed that they wanted to understand the casualty and hidden safety problems at the mines and thus forced the mine owners to pay them off  After these fraudsters were arrested by the police, Modern Consumer Guide dismissed the entire group.  I don't know whether Lan Chengzhang left because he was outraged by what was happening at work or because he was let do during the mass dismissal.  With his media experience, he was able to join the Shanxi bureau of China Trade News and he obtained a stamped news gathering identity kit and a red-lettered letter of introduction.

I would rather believe that Lan Chengzhang was a grassroots person with a journalistic ideal.  His death is the tragic outcome of the phenomenon of fake reporters.  It does not matter what he talked to the mine owner about, but it is for certain that the appearance of the seven groups of reporters before him who published nothing is the reason why the dark forces were angered.

According to Lan Chengzhang's relative named Li, the family has proof that Lan Chengzhang went to coal mine on duty.  "At the time, he held a letter of introduction from the Shanxi bureau of China Trade News.  We have the material in our hands."

At 10pm last night, the Xinmin Chenbao reporter made personal contact with the relative of the deceased.  The party produced the relevant letter of introduction and identifications.  The reporter saw that the letter of introduction stated: "We are presenting our newspaper reporter Lan Chengzhang to gather information at your location.  Please provide all assistance."  The letter of introduction had the seal of the Shanxi bureau of the China Trade News stamped at the bottom.  On the "News Work Permit" that Lan Chengzhang carried with him, there was also the seal of the Shanxi bureau of China Trade News.

The relatives of Lan Chengzhang said that they have been silent for many days and they have not received the forensic report as yet.  The Hunyuan public security bureau director named Guo told them verbally that "death had been caused by blunt instruments with multiple injuries to the cranium leading to brain hemorrhaging."  The corpse is presently held at the funeral home, because there is no documentary statement as yet.

According to the family, China Trade News as not yet sent anyone to meet with the family.  Worse yet, there has been a large amount of information about "fake reporters" that cast doubts on the status of Lan Chengzhang.  They urged the relevant departments to verify the facts and give them an explanation.

(Christian Science Monitor)  Beating death chills Chinese media.  By Peter Ford.  January 19, 2007.

On Wednesday afternoon last week, in this remote farming village tucked into the snow-dusted hills of Shanxi Province, Lan Chengzhang was beaten to death in the frozen mud of a walled courtyard.

At first glance, he died a martyr to press freedom, courageously investigating conditions in the notoriously dangerous illegal coal mines that dot the region. But as local authorities here launch a campaign against "fake journalists" extorting money from mine owners in return for not reporting their activities, doubts have surfaced about just what Mr. Lan was doing when he met his death.

The proliferation of newspapers and magazines that appear to exist primarily as organs of extortion, and authorities' bid to rein them in, are both cause for deep concern among legitimate Chinese reporters, who fear they may be tarred with the same brush as they seek to push the boundaries of acceptable journalism.

"This phenomenon is really harmful to Chinese media," says one reporter for a metropolitan daily who asked not to be identified as he may not talk to foreign journalists. "If the government moves to control this sort of thing, perhaps they will move to control us more, too."

Lan was hired Jan. 3 as a reporter in the Shanxi bureau – about 300 miles west of Beijing – of the China Trade News, according to the paper's chief editor, Wang Jianfeng.

Barely a week later, he was seen with a colleague in a violent altercation with the owner of an illegal coal mine outside the mine office in this tiny village of mud and straw houses.

"I saw four men beating them up with big sticks really hard," says Xiao Zhou, who says he watched the killing from his village shop next to the mine office, not daring to intervene. "They just hit them really hard and kept shouting 'beat them, beat them.' Their faces were covered with blood."

Lan was declared dead the next morning at a hospital in nearby Datong. His colleague is in hiding.

Immediately after the beating, Mr. Zhou says, the mine owner and his three accomplices shut the office and left in their cars. They have not been seen since. Datong police have made "major strides" in their investigation, according to the head of the criminal-affairs division, who identified himself by his family name, Ren, but no arrests have been made.

The coal mines of Shanxi – China's largest coal-producing region – have attracted media scrutiny for some time. Last year, official figures show, 4,746 people died in mines – averaging 13 a day.

Chinese government officials have acknowledged that local authorities often connive with mine owners who bribe them to ignore safety lapses. Local farmers say the mine owner who has vanished was in league with local officials: The office, they say, was in a building belonging to the road department.

"They are all corrupt, and that includes the village party secretary," says a villager in Xi Wang Pu, a township just up the road from the mine, which is now blocked by piles of earth.

Lan's purpose in visiting the mine office was unclear. His paper, affiliated with the quasigovernmental China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, has never published articles on mine safety, Mr. Wang says. Lan had been with the paper for only a week and "nobody sent him on any assignment to that mine," according to Wang.

Lan had no reporting experience, according to an article in the "Shanghai Morning Post," a Communist Party daily, whose reporter has been on the scene since soon after news of Lan's death broke in an anonymous posting on a well-read news and opinion Web forum.

Instead, he worked as a storeman at a state mine in Datong until about a year ago, the paper said, quoting his former boss. He is then said to have joined "Safety Education Weekly" in the provincial capital Taiyuan, but lost his job as a "researcher" last year when the paper was closed after charges that it was a front for blackmailing businessmen with threats of critical articles.

The respected "Southern Weekly" quoted a former Shanxi bureau chief for China Trade News as saying that reporters were expected to bring in 100,000 RMB ($12,864) each last year, of which they could keep a third. Wang denied that charge in a phone interview.

The phenomenon of people posing as journalists to extort money from businesses is not uncommon in China: A man went on trial this week in Beijing for threatening to write a critical article on his consumer website about a health-care firm unless it paid him more than $480,000.

But in Datong, where illegal mine owners are especially vulnerable to threats that their activities will come to the attention of Beijing authorities, city officials say the problem has reached such proportions that they have launched a campaign against it. The drive, however, could also be seen as an attempt by corrupt officials to protect themselves from legitimate criticism. "The Special Campaign Against Fake Journalists and Illegal News Publications," an-nounced on the Datong municipal website, defined "all newspapers and magazines without government permission" as "illegal," and states that "all journalists without a press card issued by the National News and Publications Bureau are considered fake journalists."

Its provisions, including a ban on "publishing internal material not supposed to be published," give local authorities wide powers to silence journalists.

Lan, who was not yet entitled to an official license, would have been considered a "fake journalist" under the decree.

His death, says the reporter who broke the story, "is not a big sensational murder, but it illustrates a big issue: Will the authorities protect our right to work? The problem is that it's the local government who decides who is and who isn't a journalist."

Lan's death has attracted growing media attention. Scores of reporters from around China have descended on Datong, using the story to raise questions about their profession.

The National News and Publications Bureau has registered nearly 175,000 Chinese journalists, but more than four times that many work in the field, by some estimates. "Because of the government quotas, not everyone can be legal," says a reporter for a city newspaper who is covering the case. "A lot of real reporters are considered fake because they can't get a license. If they crack down on reporters without licenses, they'll stop a lot of real reporters, too."

"Anyway, we are all citizens," she adds. "If Lan found something wrong going on, why shouldn't he uncover it? This story is not about whether he was fake or not, it's about citizens' rights."

(Southern Metropolis Daily)  By Tan Renwei.  January 19, 2007.

(Xici Hutong ReporterHome's Shanxi Newspaper Industry forum)  January 18, 2007.

[in translation]

1. Brief summary of case.

Around 9am on January 10, 2007, China Trade News Shanxi bureau employees Lan Chengzhang and Chang Hanwen were attacked by persons led by Hou Zhenrun at a filled-in mining location north of Siwangpu village, Darenzhuang town, Hunyuan county.  Lan Chengzhang died from injuries at 9:20pm on January 11, 2007 at the Datong city Number Five People's Hospital.  At 9:35am on January 11, 2007, Li Wenxian (the brother-in-law of Lan Chengzhang) called 110 to file a police report with the Datong city public security bureau.

After the Datong public security bureau received the call, they began the investigation quickly.  According to Chang Hanwen, at 9am on January 10, Lan Chengzhang called him to go out to a coal mine in Hunyuan county which has not completed all its procedures,  The two then rented a Santana car in Datong city and headed towards Hunyuan county.  On the way, Lan told Sheng: "If only we can find the mine owner today in Hunyuan and show him our identification, the other party will have to give us at least 1,000 RMB."  When they arrived at Shuigou village near Siwangpu village in Hunyuan county, they walked to the small coal mine and found nobody there.  There was no sign of production activity.  Lan Chengzhang then found the mine's watchman Zhang Gengen and told him: "We received a tip that your mine has not completed all the procedures but you have already begun production.  We need to speak to the boss to understand the situation."  Zhang Gengen then gave the telephone number of Hou Zhenrun to Lan, who called Hou to ask for a meeting.  Hou Zhenrun said that he would wait at the Datong Five Continents Hotel.  Lan said that he was not going there and will wait at the mine instead.  At around 4pm, Hou Zhenrun brought eight people over in two vehicles.  He directed his accomplices to assault Lan and Chang and then the attackers fled.  Afterwards, the rental car's driver took Lan and Chang to the Datong city Number 5 People's Hospital.  According to the forensic doctor, Lan Chengchang suffered multiple soft tissue damage, skull contusions, cranium fracture and brain hemorrhaging which led to his death.  Chang Hanwen suffered a broken bone in his right arm, plus mild injuries on both legs, left hand and chest.

2. Basic background on the victims and criminal suspects.

(2) The background of the victims.

Lan Chengzhang, male, born April 18, 1972.  Originally a Datong city mine district person.  Technical school experience.  Lives in the dormitory of the Datong city municipal tobacco bureau.  Hired on December 26, 2006 as the China Trade News' Shanxi bureau's special topics department director.

Chang Hanwen, male, born April 25, 1955.  Originally a resident of Huairen county, Shanxi province.  Elementary school education.  Lives in Datong city, Qingtong district.  Hired on January 4, 2007 as China Trade News' Shanxi bureau's English-language news department director.  Previously, he was a self-employed worker.

According to China Trade News' Shanxi bureau chief Chang Xuri (also from Huairen county, Shanxi province just like Chang Hanwen): Lan Chengzhang and Chang Hanwen are both employees of the bureau.  On December 26, 2006, he gave the news worker identification kit from China Trade News to Lan Chengzhang.  Chang Hanwei's news worker identification kit was being processed.  Both are under probation.  Their main duty is to find news leads and they do not have the right to conduct interviews.  On January 10, the bureau did not arrange for Lan Chengzhang and Chang Hanwen to go to conduct interviews in Hunyuan county, and they did not inform the bureau.  The bureau did not know where they went.  Theirs was a purely personal action.

(2) The background of the criminal suspects.

Hou Zhenrun, male, 29, Huainren county resident.  A Datong city precision tools factory laid-off worker.  Presently living in a dormitory of the Datong city buildings committee.  Owner of an illegal mine.  Presently in flight.

Wu Qiang, male, 32, Datong Nanjiao district resident.  Unemployed.  Presently in flight.

Kong Quanming, male, 28, Ying county resident.  Chauffeur for Hou Zhenrun.  Presently in flight.

Cheng Wenping, male, 22, Datong Nanjiao district resident.  Unemployed.  Arrested.

Ma Li, male, 21, Datong Nanjiao district resident.  Unemployed.  Arrested.

Cheng Hongrui, male 28, Hunyuan county resident.  Employee of Hunyuan county Wucheng school.  Surrendered himself to police.

The situations of three more suspects are being investigated.

3. The condition at the mine involved in the case.

According to information from the Hunyuan State Land Resources Bureau and the Darenzhuang town government, the mine north of the Siwangpu village was initially opened up privately in the winter of 2005 by Siwangpu villager Fan Guanlin.  After it was discovered, the government filled it up.  In the spring of 2006, the town government received a tip of more activity and went there to dynamite the site and sealed it up.  On January 11, 2007, the Hunyuan public security bureau proceeded to the site for an inspection and found that the mine showed no sign of production activity.

(Xinhua)  Coal mine boss arrested in reporter murder case.  January 20, 2007.

A coal mine owner suspected of ordering a gang of thugs to beat up a newspaper employee, which led to his death, has been arrested in north China, a local government source said on Saturday.  Hou Zhenrun, owner of a n illegal coal mine in Shanxi Province, handed himself over to the police late on Friday night, Gu Shengming, a spokesman with Datong city government told Xinhua.  Hou allegedly gathered eight people to carry out the assault on Lan Chengzhang, and his colleague Chang Hanwen, two employees of the China Trade News, when the two men attempted to investigate Hou's illegal mine in Hunyuan County on January 10.

Lan died of a brain haemorrhage the next morning in hospital. Chang suffered a broken right arm and minor injuries in the attack.  However, the head of the newspaper's Shanxi office said the two, who were employed to collect clues for the paper, were not authorized to conduct reporting missions and their investigation on the coal mine was only "personal behavior".  Lan had an employee's card issued by the Beijing-based newspaper, according to the head of the paper's Shanxi office.  However, only a press card issued by the State Press and Publication Administration can serve as a valid certificate of a journalist's identity.

According to the police, Lan told Chang en route to the coal mine that the mine owner could "at least give us 1,000 yuan (128 U.S dollars) once we show him our identity."

Lan found a doorman of the mine Zhang Gengen and told him they wanted to talk with the mine boss about the mine's operation as they had received reports the mine was run illegally.  Zhang gave the telephone number of Hou who was then in Dadong City. Hou asked Lan on the phone to go to Datong to talk but Zhang insisted on waiting for Hou at the mine.

At 4 p.m., Hou took eight people to the mine and asked them to assault on Lan and Chang.  Hou and the eight fled the scene after the beating.

Police are also questioning three people out of the group of eight suspected of carrying out the beatings. The men are Zheng Wenping and Ma Li, both unemployed from Nanjiao District of Datong City, and Zheng Hongrui, a native of Hunyuan County.

(Southern Metropolis Daily)  By Tan Renwei.  January 24, 2007.

[in translation]

At a press conference in Datong city yesterday, more details about the Lan Chengzhang case was reported.  According to the report, on the morning of January 10, Lan Chengzhang asked his colleague Chang Hanwen to go with him in a rented car to a Hunyuan county coal mine with incomplete paperwork to gather news.  On the way, they encountered two men and one woman.  One of those was Huang Yanxin (according to China Trade News Shanxi bureau chief Chang Xuri, Huang Yanxin is a worker at <China Forum>) and they all went to the coal mine office.  Lan Chengzhang obtained from the watchman Zhang Gangan the telephone number of the coal mine owner Hou Zhenrun (also known as Hou Si).  Chang Hanwen and Huang Yanxin called Hou separately for meetings.  Hou subsequently called the Datong resident worker Meng Er of <Legal Daily>'s Shanxi office to ask about how to distinguish between real and fake reporters.  Meng told Hou to ask to examine the press cards and then give him a call.

After the telephone call, Huang and his people left while Lan and Chang stayed to wait for Hou.  Hou Zhenrun brought along seven persons including Wu Qiang, Zheng Wenping and Ma Li in two cars.  On the way to Hunyuan, Hou called Wu Qiang and said: "If these are real reporters, we will treat them nicely and give them some money.  If these are fake reporters, we will punish them."

At around 4pm, Hou Zhenrun and company arrived at the coal mine.  At the office, Hou met Chang Hanwen and asked what this was about.  Chang Hanwen said, "We are <China Trade News> reporters and we are looking for raw story material.  Your mine does not have the paperwork.  How can you be operating?"  Hou said: "What's the point?  You take some money and forget it."  Chang Hanwen said, "You tell me."  Hou asked Chang Hanwen to show him the press card.  Then he took the press card outside the office and called Meng Er.  Meng said, "It is fake if it does not have the seal of the General Administration of Press and Publications."  Hou looked and did not see the seal.  He returned to the office and told Chang Hanwen: "Your press cards do not have the seal of the General Administration of Press and Publications.  You just go around all day extorting people?  Are you blind?"  Hou then instructed Wu Qiang, Zheng Wenping, Ma Li and others to assault Lan Chengzhang and Chang Hanwen.  Afterwards, Hou left Lan and Chang with 1,000 RMB apiece and then left with the others.

According to the report, the case drew the attention of CCP Secretary General Hu Jintao, CCP Politburo standing member Li Changchun, Minister of Security Zhou Yongkang and Deputy Minister of Security Bai Jingfu.

(Beijing Youth Daily)  January 26, 2007.

Yesterday, the Datong city public security bureau announced that  two additional suspects Gao Bo and Li Zihong surrendered to the police on January 24.  At this time, only one suspect is still in flight.  Upon investigation, on the day of the incident, Li Zihong asked suspects Gao Bo and Ma Li to "conduct business."  Afterwards, Li received 700 RMB from the mine boss.  Each of the three suspects got 200 RMB, and the remaining 100 RMB was used to pay for the transportation.

(Wen Wei Po via Wenxue City)  According to Lan Chengzhang's laywer Xu Zhanqin, the murder case of reporter Lan Chengzhang by an operator of an illegal coal mine in Shanxi was rapidly solved after Secretary-General Hu Jintao personally issued a directive.  As a result, Lan Chengzhang's eldest daughter Lan Lulin asked the lawyer to forward a personal letter of thanks to Secretary-General Hu after her father was buried on February 14.  
 
13-year-old Lan Lulin wrote that just when the family felt helpless after the death of Lan Chengzhang, Secretary-General Hu gave an directive marked as important.  "Then the reporters came to our home; the police uncles quickly arrested the criminals; Xu Zhanqin and others from the Beijing Lawyers Association provided legal aid; the Central Legal Committee's Huang Jingjun provided kind help to us so that my dad's affairs can be dealt with in accordance with the law."

Lan Lulin said that she wants to be a reporter when she grows up.

(BBC News)  June 28, 2007.

Seven men have been jailed over the beating to death of a journalist outside an illegal coal mine in China, state media reports.

The head of the mine, Hou Zhenrun, was jailed for life for ordering the attack that killed reporter Lan Chengzhang outside the mine in Shanxi province.

Five men were given sentences of between five to 15 years in jail for carrying out the attack, while another man received a year sentence for harbouring the suspects.

The court in Shanxi sentenced Hou to life in prison for causing the death of another by malicious injury.

Mr Lan's family were also awarded 300,000 yuan ($40,000) in compensation from the defendants.