From the Phoenix Weekly, a magazine I hadn't seen before, which seems to be associated with HK's Phoenix TV. I don't usually work from magazines, as it makes my life harder, but I thought this was worth the extra effort. Please note, the government referred to here is the local Haicheng one, not central government.
On the morning of the 14th of April, in the compound of Liaoning's Haicheng City Government, a large group of parents gathered, surrounded by police. Haicheng Standing Committee's Vice-Mayor used a loudspeaker to speak to the hundreds of student's parents.
When he was asked if the city government had reported the soya milk poisioning to higher authorities within the legally-required 6 hour period, he said 'That can only be answered after more investigation' and the crowd became angry. This government spokesman tried to leave the scene, claiming he was thirsty, but was surrounded by people who wouldn't let him leave. "Give him some soya milk to drink", someone cried.
The people's anger has exploded after a long period of silence and supression.
trying to get attention
It all started with a public health project - 'Student's Milk'. According to reports, almost 4000 students at 8 elementary schools using 'Goverment Recommended' soya milk suffered a bad reaction. One 13 year old girl died in her mothers arms. 3 hospitals are full of victims seeking testing and treatment, and hundred of parents are looking for explanations and using every possible method to contact the government, including trying to get audiences, leaving the city, gathering together, and even obstructing public highways.
After the soya milk affair occured, the "March 19th Leader's Panel Office' was quickly created to oversee 'treatment, education, social stability investigation and work','publicity work','parents thought work' and to 'help students quickly get back to classes'. It became the focus of the government's crisis management.
After this, Haicheng entered 20 days of silence.
Apart from Haicheng Television's report on the food poisoning on the evening of the 19th of March, there was no other news about the poisoning from local media until the 8th of April.
According to some parents, many goverment workers were placed inside the hospital. Anyone who spoke to the media would be asked what they had said. "Teachers said to children, don't worry if your stomach hurts, when you come back don't gossip, or you'll be expelled. All the cadres need to control what people around them are thinking and they can't talk to the media, or they'll be held responsible."
At the same time, the public became very suspicious of the media's impartiality. One reporter was among the first to get to Haicheng, and said it was like 'carrying a torch in daylight, but still unable to find the path. The goverment used every excuse to avoid giving interviews, the people regarded us as enemies. They thought we were helping to hide the governments guilt.'
One taxi-driver told the reporter what he'd seen with his own eyes: "The government wouldn't let parents take children to Beijing or Shenyang to get treatment, in case things blew up and reflected on them. On the 6th of April I was at the train station to meet someone, I saw 4 police cars, full of police. There were also some village and town leaders and elementary school heads, all on the platform trying to persuade parents not to take their children onto the train. They said they couldn't go to Beijing, and if they did they wouldn't get medical expenses back. They also said it didn't matter what the problem was, it could be treated in Haicheng. Some of the parents didn't listen, so there was nothing they could do. They still said though, that when they got to Beijing they could go to hospital, but they couldn't complain to higher authorities.
The reporter got hold of Haicheng government's 'Situation Explanation Report'. It said 'This city's PSB and other departments will use police power, manpower to closely observe the situation in the city, to prevent the situation worsening'.
worried parents and nervous officials
The first leak of news to the outside world was on the 8th of April, when the Jinghua Times, Dalian Evening News and the new Shenyang Today separately reported on the mass food-poisoning of 3000 students in Haicheng. That day, the Liaoning Provincial Health Department informed the National Health Department.
Actually, because of Haicheng government's silence, not only were the local people unaware of the whole situation, even the National Health Department was kept in the dark. Confusion had already appeared among the people.
On the 1st of April, over 1000 parents sought answers from the government without result and spontaneously took to the streets. Haicheng City mobilising a large group of police and a number of ringleaders were detained to be released later. After this, at about 11.40am a large group of people moved on Haicheng Railway Station. A part of this group broke through the polices 200-man human wall and blocked the K682 Shenyang to Dalian train, delaying it for 9 minutes. During this, the police forceably removed some parents and 5 of them were detained for between 5 and 15 days. According to a local government spokesman, these 5 people 'refused to acknowledge their guilt [there's a bit I'm not sure about here]'
In the afternoon of that day, Haicheng Deputy Mayor, Assistant Head of the PSB and a cadre from the local Communist party made a promise to the parents, to answer questions about medical evaluations, after-effects of the poisoning, medical expenses, and the responsible people by 3pm on the 4th of April.
At 5.30pm on the 4th of April, Tiexi Elementary School student Li Yang died. The feelings of the parents group quickly worsened, and repeatedly asked the government to give a clear explanation of the cause of death.
On the 9th of April, Haicheng Government held a 'Soya Milk Affair Situation Explanation Meeting'.
The written material provided describes the events like this: On the 19th of March, Haicheng City's Xinghai District elementary schools [there's a list of the school names] 3936 students and 260 teachers all drank [company's name]'s 'High quality Fostering Student's Milk' . That morning from 10.20 onwards, some students suffered from abdominal pains, dizziness, etc. As soon as the schools realised what has happened they took the students to hospital for tests and treatment. According to government statistics, up to the 11th of April 2556 students has suffered varying degrees of adverse reactions "but after active medical treatment the students problems were effectively controlled."
This was 20 days after the event, and the first time the government had offically acknowledged the Soya Milk Affair. Also, reporters were not allowed to attend this long overdue meeting, nor did the meeting discuss the cause of death of student Li Yang. At Anshan City Governments [I presume Anshan is an adjacent city which also suffered] 'Situation Explanation Meeting' on the 11th, This death was explained by city leaders as 'unrelated, due to gas poisoning'. At Li Yang's home her mother told the reporter the day before her daughter died they had slept in the same bed, and their house has no gas supply.
On the 9th of April, as the meeting had failed to answer many of the people's questions, many people were talking about the 'black hearts' of the city officials.
On the 10th of April many hundreds of parents gathered together and marched towards the Harbin - Dalian Highway Bridge. Some parents blocked the road for 5 hours.
On the 11th of April, the parents again asked for explanation from the government, blocking traffic in front of the government offices. After this, similar demonstrations continued.
The parents say, this is all to make the government publish information, to honestly and frankly explain the nature and results of the 'adverse reaction' in order to help medical treatment. The facts show that it is only 10 or even 20 days after drinking the milk that some students show sypmtoms of poisoning [list of symptoms]
The fact that the owner of the company that makes the milk is still free makes the parents suspicious. It's said the head of the company is related to an Anshan cadre.
Patients unable to get test results
What makes the parents angriest is the treatment they recieve at local hospitals.
'Positive treatment? It's not treatment, it's covering things up for the government. What have they done? If they've got a headache, they give them painkillers. If they've got a stomachache they give them anti-acid tablets, and then let us look after them ourselves. If they're really bad they get a drip or oxygen. Is that treatment?!'. The claims that the students illnesses had been cured met with anger and denial from parents.
From the 19th of March when students drank the milk and [another list of symptoms] until the meeting on the 9th of April, the affair has remained confusing and unclear. All the students varied symptoms have been classed as simply 'adverse reactions'.
Haicheng Central Hospital Inpatients department is so crowded that three or four students have to crowd into each bed. Some of the students have fits, scaring the others. One 10 meter square room is full of 30 people, it was difficult for the reporter to even turn around. In room 225, one small girl has large purple bruises on her body.
The situation is the same at two other hospitals in the city.
The parents are no longer worried about the consequences of talking to journalists and are happy to be interviewed. As soon as a reporter enters they surround him, holding up their children, explaining their nightmare days and asking the reporter to take more pictures. In every room, men and women, young and old, often cry together.
The Central Hospital's 6th Building 4th Floor meeting room has become a huge clinic. Group after group of children come here to queue, waiting to be seen. But no matter how the parents describe the symptom, they always get the answer 'Everything normal'.
On the 12th of April, around 5pm, one student's face was red and he leant against his fathers body, listlessly waiting to be seen. After a coughing fit he spat a mouthful of dark red blood into his fathers hand. Crying silently, his father wiped his hand and put the tissue into a plastic bag, then put the bag into his pocket.
About 6 o'clock, carrying his son down the stairs, the father said 'Spitting blood, and the experts say everything is normal?' At this point, the child coughed again and spat fresh blood onto the hospital floor. Parent's nearby called for the doctors to 'come and see what everything normal means'. Two doctors and a nurse came down the stairs. The younger one said 'It's not red enough, it's just bile'. When he saw the reporter taking photographs, the older one said 'collect it for tests' Facing the reporter, this doctor expressed helplessness. "If we don't know what the poison is, there's no way we can treat it. We can only treat the symptoms, not the basic problem."
According to the parents, the hospitals experts have the right to decide who can leave the city to seek treatment. Otherwise, the government won't cover medical expenses and the parents will be responsible for the consequences. The parents are furious, "What consequences are more important than a childs life?"
On the 13th of April, the reporter saw this notice in an elementary school classroom: "Medical treatment for suffers of soya milk poisoning: To help victims get better treatment, there is a special method. 1. All victims should go to [list of three hospitals] and medical expense will be reimbursed. 2. If you need to seek treatment elsewhere, go through the experts at Central Hospital. 3. Those who seek treatment elsewhere and do not go through Central Hospital will be responsible for the result.
This 'method' traps a number of poorer parents and their children in Haicheng. "We took our child to a hospital in Anshan, they did tests but didn't give any treatment, or even the results of the tests. They just said 'everything normal'. The treatment in Haicheng is making parents less and less satisfied.
One students mother is particularly angry. Her son drank a bag of milk and became listless and didn't eat. When they did tests everything was normal, but they didn't give out the results. In the end they went to an army hospital, where they found blood in his stools. "Almost all students are in this situation, my son isn't even the worst of them". This mother took the test results to the original hospital, hoping they would treat the cause of the illness. [There's a bit here I don't get, but her son only has one of them, some others have three]." Her face is furious.
It's also difficult for the doctors to choose medicine. "We don't know the cause of the illness, we can't just prescribe anything. We can only treat the sypmtoms" Most of the medicine the children get is just antibiotics or common cold medicine.
It's not just Haicheng hospitals that aren't providing test results, even a hospital in Shenyang is doing the same. On the bus from Shenyang to Haicheng, the reporter met a mother and son who'd just finished tests there. The son had already done many tests in Haicheng, but not got the results, just the spoken answer 'everything normal'. "I'm not reassured, I wanted to do tests somewhere else, but Anshan was the same. In the end I went to Shenyang and used family connections and finally got a result. Too much protein in the urine!" the boy's mother said.
Whether the poison came from the milk or the environment, the most important question is still unanswered. The two official announcements are contradictory, the first doesn't admit poisoning, the second admits poisoning but claims it might not have come from the soya milk. Currently, the Health Department's group of experts have not made a final conclusion either.
Since the 6th of April, many hundreds of students have accompanied their parents to places like Shenyang and Beijing. In Haicheng, there are constant stories of blood transfusions and 20,000Y injections.
Running hot and cold to the media
The 'March 19th' group held a press conference in the Haicheng Guesthouse, which was very popular with the media. To make their work easier a few reporters had no choice but to escape from the free food and lodging at the hotel. However, when it came to interviews, only a very few special reporters were able to directly speak to important officials. The majority of reporters met obstacles everywhere.In Haicheng Central Hospital's meeting room, when the reporter raised his camera to take photos, someone claiming to be a 'government worker' stood in front of him. After checking identification he politely refused the request to take photos, and asked the reporter to return after registering with the publicity office. Four uniformed police officers coldly watched the reporters every move.
When the reporter went to the publicity department, the cadre on duty gave him an Anshan phone number and told him to contact the publicity department in Anshan for an interview. The reporter had to follow instructions. Anshan told him 'the boss isn't here, it's not convenient'.
On the afternoon of the 13th of April, the reporter followed 7 or 8 black cars into Tiexi Elementary School, hoping to listen to the government meeting to be held inside, but he was refused entry. When the reporter visited the school, Principal Wu took one look at his identification and left his own office without saying one word.
On the 14th, the parents gathered at the government offices. The reporter who was present was politely taken aside by a government worker who took a note of his details. At that point the government worker received a phone call and was told there were more reporters in the crowd. He replied 'bring them out too, they can't observe'.
Almost every reporter came across this kind of treatment. Even Xinhua News Agency 
had to to apply several days in advance and provide details of questions.
After three days, an Anshan cadre simply recited the information from the 'Situation Explanation Meeting', and that was the
end of that precious opportunity to interview. When a reporter tried to interview some students a teacher said 'You can
say what you know, but don't talk about what you don't know'. The children were scared off.
A CCTV reporter had to jump over a wall just to film a school building.
From April 9th to 11th, CCTV's 'Economic Half-hour' program focussed on the soya milk poisoning. On the 12th of April, at about 9.30pm when the program was about to start, Haicheng City's cable television signal was lost. Workers claimed it was a coincidential technical problem.
According to reports, the reporters who broke the story first are facing great pressure at work [not sure about this bit]
The government's obstruction prevented reporters from performing the investigation and interviews the people wanted them to carry out.
What's an 'adverse reaction'
According to Haicheng City information, from 2002 Liaoning Province Anshan City produced and published a document about 'Student's Milk Plan'. In March 2003, Haicheng City Xinghai district decided 'from March 19th, all elementary schools will order milk together'. They were to order 'Something Milk' from some company.On the first day they ordered milk, this 'sudden accident' happened.
It has been reported many times that there have been no cases outside of the 8 schools involved. However, the reporter found many cases from other schools. On the 13th of April the reporter found in XXX town that 23 schools had ordered this milk since the start of March. One student drank it for half a month with no problem, but on the 19th of March he suffered abdominal pains, vomiting, dizziness and other problems. His father has taken him everywhere seeking treatment. What is difficult for experts to understand is that schools that recieved milk earlier had less cases.
Apart from this town, the reporter also saw other victims at another town's hospital. One father described his child's symptoms to the reporter, they were the same as those suffered in Haicheng. When the reporter met them the child hadn't eaten for a fortnight. She said 'My tummy hurts, it's horrible, I don't want to eat.' Her father said her condition had relapsed many times, and on the 11th of April she had a fever of 39 degrees. When the reporter asked how many of these cases the hospital had, the doctor answered 'None, not one'.
On the 11th of April, the Anshan Government released prelimnary findings of the investigation group and admitted 'The poisoning came from the soya milk' and stated that 2556 students had suffered different degrees of adverse reactions, and that 85 of these were seeking treatment outside the area. Before this CCTV's Economic Half-hour had already reported there were 200 in Beijing alone.
Anshan government has frozen the assets of the company and on the 4th of April the company's premises were sealed.
According to reports, Central Government is taking a very serious view of the affair. The Agricultural Department and four others have ruled that all 'student's milk' organisations may not approve specific producers and that company's who have not acheived national certification may not use the words 'student's milk' on their products.
It is understood that the three milk brands approved by Liaoning province do not include the milk in question. However, the reporter saw the words 'students milk' on a package of this milk.
According to comment, the local government actively promoted locally produced milk, which is very difficult to reconcile with the health and benefit of the locality. Since the 'March 19th Soya Milk Affair', the milk prodution and distribution industry in Haicheng has gone downhill, milk has become a terrifying thing. Perhaps this is also one kind of 'adverse reaction'.