Song Taiping's Past: How the 31-person mining disaster was lied about

On January 25, 2022, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released the news that the case of Song Taiping, a former member of the party group and deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial People's Congress, who was suspected of accepting bribes, has been investigated by the State Supervision Commission and transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution.

In February 2022, an informed source told the Economic Observer Network reporter that Song Taiping was the secretary of the Zhangjiakou Municipal Party Committee in Hebei Province, and the Heishigou Coal Mine, which was attached to the Zhangjiakou State-owned Assets Company, had a huge mining accident on December 4, 2007, where 31 people died and 22 people were injured, but only 8 deaths were reported to the outside world, and the lie was concealed for more than 10 years, until the central investigation team was stationed in 2018, and the truth of the incident was gradually revealed.

A material obtained by a reporter from the Economic Observer Network also shows that after investigation, the central investigation team believes that Song Taiping "neglected to observe the chaotic problems of state-owned asset management and coal safety production supervision system in Zhangjiakou City" and "has important leadership responsibility for the occurrence of accidents and the problem of false reporting of accidents."

During the reign of Zhangjiakou, 8 deaths were reported in the Heishigou coal mine accident

Song Taiping, a native of XingtaiBai Township, Hebei Province, was born in December 1955 and began working in March 1975. Initially, he worked in the Baixiang County Fertilizer Factory; in November 1976, he was transferred to the party and government organs, and successively served as an officer of the Propaganda Department of the Baixiang County CPC Committee, an office officer of the county party committee, the head of the research group, and the deputy director; the deputy section chief, section chief, and deputy director of the office of the xingtai prefectural party committee; the deputy secretary general of the Xingtai prefectural party committee and the director of the integrity office (at the level of a department). In December 1992, Song Taiping was appointed secretary of the Ren County Party Committee (present-day Renze District, Xingtai City), in December 1997, he was transferred to the Organization Department of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee as vice minister; in January 2003, he was promoted to director of the Hebei Provincial Personnel Department, secretary of the party leading group, and director of the office of the Provincial Organization Establishment Committee.

In November 2006, Song Taiping was appointed Secretary of the Zhangjiakou Municipal Party Committee in Hebei Province.

On December 4, 2007, a safety production accident occurred in the Heishigou Coal Mine in Wei County, Zhangjiakou.

On December 6 of the same year, Xinhua News Agency reported that "the reporter learned from the Propaganda Department of the Weixian County Party Committee in Hebei Province that at 21:30 on December 4, the Roof Collapse Accident occurred in the three lanes of the East Wing of the Weixian Heishigou Coal Mining Co., Ltd. (i.e., the Heishigou Coal Mine)) affiliated to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Zhangjiakou City. By 17:10 on the 6th, rescuers had found that all 8 trapped miners were killed.

At the time of the accident, there were 9 miners in the underground, of which 8 were trapped and 1 was safely lifted. The accident mine is an infrastructure well, which was built in November 2005, with a design production capacity of 90,000 tons and 3 vertical wells. The mine has applied for a mining license, a mine director qualification certificate, and a mine director safety qualification certificate. ”

For the definition of Heishigou Coal Mine as "affiliated to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Zhangjiakou City", the "National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System" of the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that Weixian Heishigou Coal Mining Co., Ltd. is located in Quanzijian Village, Baicao Village, Weixian County, and was established in November 2002, with 51% of the shares held by Yongheshun Coal Mine in Weixian County and 49% by Zhang Jianming, a natural person. Zhang Jianming is also the legal representative.

Afterwards, the second-instance judgment of Wu Wanrui's bribery case obtained by the Economic Observer Network reporter stated:

During Wu Wanrui's "tenure as the manager of Zhangjiakou Auto Parts Company of the nature of a state-owned enterprise", the Weixian Heishigou Coal Mine operated by Weixian Heishigou Coal Mining Co., Ltd. was "attached to the Yongheshun Coal Mine under Zhangjiakou Auto Parts Company" in August 2004, so that the industry management and safe production of Heishigou Coal Mine were included in municipal management. ”

Born in August 1962, Wu Wanrui served as the manager and secretary of Zhangjiakou Auto Parts Company, and the chairman and general manager of Zhangjiakou Asset Management Company.

The materials obtained by the discipline inspection agencies obtained by the reporter of the Economic Observer Network also show that Song Taiping also wrote in his later "repentance materials": "During my tenure in Zhangjiakou City, I deployed to clean up and rectify the original affiliated enterprises of the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. However, the supervision of the progress of the work was insufficient, and the implementation effect was not effective, resulting in the lack of serious work of the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the incomplete liquidation of affiliated enterprises, and the lack of supervision and management of subordinate enterprises. ”

It is also worth pointing out that the industrial and commercial archives show that as early as July 2, 2006, the Heishigou Coal Mining Co., Ltd. has had its license revoked. But even this company, which has been "revoked" in the legal sense, was still mining coal until the incident.

In the past ten years, the provincial and municipal governments have verified the truth five times without being revealed

According to the Regulations on the Reporting and Investigation of Production Safety Accidents promulgated by the State Council and implemented on June 1, 2007, the deaths of 3 to 10 people are "major accidents"; the deaths of more than 10 people and less than 30 people are "major accidents"; and the deaths of more than 30 people are "particularly serious accidents".

Particularly major accidents and major accidents "need to be reported to the state council safety production supervision and management department and the relevant departments responsible for production safety supervision and management responsibilities" step by step; larger accidents only need to be "reported to the safety production supervision and management departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and the relevant departments responsible for safety production supervision and management", that is, they do not need to rise to the level of central state organs.

Depending on the level of the accident, the severity of the punishment is also different: in the event of a major accident, a fine of between 200,000 and 500,000 yuan shall be imposed; in the event of a major accident, a fine of between 500,000 and 2 million yuan shall be imposed; and in the event of a particularly serious accident, a fine of between 2 million and 5 million yuan shall be imposed.

At the investigation level, "the State Council or the relevant departments authorized by the State Council shall organize an accident investigation team to conduct an investigation of particularly serious accidents." Major accidents, relatively large accidents, and general accidents are investigated by the people's government at the provincial level where the accident occurred, the people's government at the districted city level, and the people's government at the county level. ”

Afterwards, in the case of Du Jianxue, director of the Zhangjiakou Supervision Branch of the Hebei Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau and deputy secretary of the general party branch at the time, the mine shareholders of the Heishigou Coal Mine also testified that the reason why they reported 8 deaths was that "because of the accident of less than 10 deaths, the investigation and handling fell under the jurisdiction of Zhangjiakou City, and a good result could be obtained through coordination." ”

However, soon after the mining accident, there were rumors in the local area at that time, the actual death toll was far more than 8, and some insiders began to report it upwards.

According to the information obtained by the discipline inspection agency obtained by the reporter of the Economic Observer Network, the first verification of this mining accident was carried out in December 2007, that is, the month of the mining accident, but "the Zhangjiakou Municipal Government did not organize a special verification team, but arranged for the original accident investigation team to verify." Due to insufficient verification forces and single means, the conclusion that 'the report is not true' was made without in-depth investigation of suspicious clues".

The following month, in January 2008, Song Taiping left Zhangjiakou to become the secretary of the Baoding Municipal Party Committee.

Baoding has always been the center of Gyeonggi, with a population and GDP in Hebei Province more than twice that of Zhangjiakou. Song Taiping's new post is considered by many to have been further reused.

After Song Taiping left Zhangjiakou, reports of the Heishigou coal mine disaster continued.

At the level of Zhangjiakou City and Hebei Province, four more inspections were conducted, and the conclusion was still that "the reported situation is inconsistent with the facts".

The second verification was in November 2008, and the above information obtained by the economic observer network reporter showed: "The then secretary of the Zhangjiakou Municipal Party Committee (Xu Ning) still did not attach importance to the verification work, and handed over the reporting materials to the then executive vice mayor (Hou Liang) for processing, and only 3 personnel were specifically responsible." ”

The second inspection lasted for more than 20 days, and "only briefly inquired about the relevant personnel of the Heishigou Coal Mine and the government regulatory department."

However, in the verification report to the Hebei Provincial Government, Zhangjiakou wrote: "A leading group for verification work was set up, more than 40 staff with case-handling experience were dispatched, and after 2 months of painstaking and meticulous work", the conclusion that "the reported situation is inconsistent with the facts" was finally made.

The Central Investigation Group Stationed Song Taiping was severely warned

In January 2012, at the age of 55, Song Taiping was promoted to vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial People's Congress, rising to the rank of vice provincial level. In January 2018, at the age of 60, he was dismissed from his post as vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial People's Congress.

According to the information obtained by the above-mentioned discipline inspection agency by the reporter of the Economic Observer Network, four months later, that is, on May 10, 2018, the State Council approved the establishment of the "12.4" mining accident investigation team of the Heishigou Coal Mine. On May 25 of the same year, "with the approval of the leading comrades of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission, the Fifth Office of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission took the lead in setting up the '12.4' Accident Responsibility Investigation and Investigation Team, which simultaneously intervened in the accident investigation of the State Council, supervised the investigation work of the Accident Investigation Team of the State Council, independently examined and investigated the responsibility for accidents, the responsibility for late reporting and concealment, and the responsibility for investigation and verification in accordance with discipline and law, and dug deep into the corruption, formalism, and bureaucracy behind the accident."

With the intervention of the Central Investigation Group, the truth was gradually revealed.

On September 29, 2018, the Investigation Team of the "12.4" Special Major Gas Explosion Accident in heishigou Coal Mine in WeiXian County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, issued an investigation report:

At about 16:30 on December 4, 2007, a particularly major gas explosion accident occurred in Heishigou Coal Mining Co., Ltd. of WeiXian County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, causing 31 deaths and 22 injuries, and direct economic losses of about 18 million yuan.

However, the Heishigou Coal Mine did not report to the Zhangjiakou City Safety Supervision and other departments 24 hours after the mining accident, and falsely claimed that the death toll was 8.

The reason why 8 deaths were reported, the information disclosed by the discipline inspection agency:

This "is because 8 of the victims at that time were locals, the others were foreigners, the locals who were killed could not hide it, and most of the bodies of the victims in other places were transported to nearby Shanxi for cremation." ”

Under the influence of Song Taiping, the accident investigation team also wanted to calm down the people as soon as possible, and without confirming the true identity of the victims, they irresponsibly reported false information to the provincial party committee." ”

At the same time, "when disposing of the aftermath, the investigation team allowed the coal mine owner to organize rescue, transfer the bodies of the victims, and make compensation for the aftermath", which is "conniving at the mine owner's 'sealing' and colluding confessions." ”

The Heishigou Coal Mine "smuggled the remains of the victims to neighboring provinces for parking, paid high compensation to the families of the victims for 'sealing', deliberately destroyed and falsified relevant evidence, and instructed and colluded with relevant personnel to issue perjury and false reports in the government's rescue and rescue accident investigation." ”

The investigation report of the Investigation Team for the "12.4" Special Major Gas Explosion Accident at the Heishigou Coal Mine in Wei County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, and the criminal investigation file of the Zhangjiakou Municipal Public Security Bureau also show that:

The accident at the Heishigou Coal Mine was not the "roof collapse accident" originally reported, but the "gas explosion accident"; the so-called infrastructure well was actually "mined 24 hours a day, that is, illegal production by means of infrastructure wells"; and even the specific time was not "21:30 on December 4", but 5 hours ago, "around 16:30 on December 4".

The discipline inspection agency's information reads: "Song Taiping thought that in this way he could hide the sky and cross the sea, but the paper could not contain the fire in the end."

In January 2019, after a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission studied and reported to the CPC Central Committee for approval, it was decided to give Song Taiping a serious warning within the party.

Before Song Taiping was punished, Du Jianxue, who was the director of the Zhangjiakou Supervision Branch of the Hebei Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau and deputy secretary of the general party branch during the mining accident, and as the leader of the investigation team of the "12.4" Heishigou coal mine accident, was investigated by the Supervision Commission of Langfang City, Hebei Province, on June 14, 2018. On the same day, Du Jianxue was placed in lien.

On April 18, 2019, the Yongqing County People's Court of Langfang City, Hebei Province, tried Du Jianxue in the first instance for dereliction of duty in the Heishigou coal mine accident and sentenced him to 4 years in prison; Du Jianxue was also found by the court to accept bribes of 310,000 yuan in other matters, so he was convicted of accepting bribes and sentenced to 2 years in prison. The two crimes were punished concurrently, and it was decided to carry out a fixed-term imprisonment of five years.

Du Jianxue appealed. On July 15, 2019, the Langfang Intermediate People's Court upheld the original judgment in the second instance.

On the same day as Du Jianxue, on June 14, 2018, Wu Wanrui was also placed in custody by the Langfang Municipal Supervision Commission in Hebei Province on suspicion of abuse of power and dereliction of duty.

On February 25, 2020, the Intermediate People's Court of Langfang City, Hebei Province, ruled in the second instance that Wu Wanrui was guilty of accepting bribes and sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

Song Taiping's fate did not end with a "serious warning" punishment.

Two years later, on July 25, 2021, the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission announced to the public that "Song Taiping is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and is subject to disciplinary review and supervision and investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission." ”

On January 10, 2022, the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection again notified that, with the approval of the CPC Central Committee, the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection conducted a case review and investigation of Song Taiping's serious violations of discipline and laws.

In this briefing, the problems involved in Song Taiping were more serious than those in concealing and lying about the mining accident.

The circular said: Song Taiping "repeatedly accepted banquets and travel arrangements that might affect the fair performance of official duties, entered and exited private clubs in violation of regulations; lacked organizational principles, sold official titles, did not report personal matters in accordance with regulations, and did not truthfully explain problems when organizing conversations; accepted valuable calligraphy and paintings and other property in violation of the law; engaged in profit-making activities in violation of the law; abused his power for personal gain, used his position to facilitate the use of his position to seek benefits for others in the areas of project contracting, enterprise operation, and promotion of posts, and illegally accepted huge amounts of property." ”

After the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission studied and reported to the CPC Central Committee for approval, "it was decided to expel Song Taiping from the party; to revoke the treatment he enjoyed in accordance with regulations; to confiscate the proceeds of his violation of discipline and law; to transfer his suspected crimes to the procuratorial organs for examination and prosecution according to law, and to transfer the property involved." ”

On January 25, 2022, the Supreme People's Procuratorate announced that Song Taiping's suspected bribery case had been investigated by the State Supervision Commission and transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution.