Two journalists from the Chinese state media outlet “Economic Reference News,” while investigating the Anhui high-speed rail project undertaken by China Railway Seventh Bureau, were recently assaulted by multiple individuals. Local authorities have reported that five individuals involved in the assault have been detained. Following this, China Railway Seventh Bureau announced that these five individuals have been dismissed on the spot. However, the announcement did not address the issues of shoddy construction exposed by the media, such as cutting corners and using substandard materials in the high-speed rail project.
On the night of November 15, the Anhui Dingyuan County Public Security Bureau issued a notice of “journalists being attacked,” stating that five individuals from the project department of China Railway Seventh Bureau had been administratively detained for robbing Wang and Chen and restricting their freedom.
Subsequently, China Railway Seventh Bureau Group Co., Ltd. immediately released a statement stating that they decided to dismiss project branch manager Wang, deputy manager Yang, and administrator Wu. Additionally, for those with management responsibilities in this incident, party committee secretary and commander Chen, as well as deputy secretary of the party committee Qu, were also dismissed.
However, in the statement, China Railway Seventh Bureau did not mention the issues of shoddy construction exposed by the media in the high-speed rail project they were undertaking.
On November 12, the Xinhua News Agency’s “Economic Reference News” published an investigative report titled “Elastic Cushion Layer ‘Opens with One Cut,’ Shoddy Construction Materials in He Xin Railway Pose Safety Hazards.” The article revealed that several construction units on the He Xin Railway (from Hefei to Xinyi) had replaced the “EPDM rubber elastic cushion layer” with substandard “recycled rubber imitation products” to save costs. These imitation products have significantly lower performance than what is required, posing safety hazards.
According to reports from the Xiaoxiang Morning News and Jimo News, on November 14, it was disclosed that Wang and his colleague, senior journalist Cheng from “Economic Reference News,” were physically assaulted by multiple individuals while conducting an interview at the China Railway Seventh Bureau construction site for the Anhui He Xin high-speed rail project. The journalists’ phones were stolen, and Wang sustained an injury to his right hand.
After the incident was exposed, the person responsible for the safety hazard investigation and reporting hotline at China Railway Seventh Bureau, Mr. Yu, responded to media inquiries about the attack by saying, “There may have been some minor friction.” He also shifted the blame for the violence onto the migrant workers, stating, “It may have been the agricultural workers below.”
According to the statement released by China Railway Seventh Bureau Group Co., Ltd. on November 14, concerning the media’s report on the substandard construction materials used on the He Xin Railway, an investigation team has been dispatched to the site. As of now, China Railway Seventh Bureau has not disclosed any information regarding the issues of shoddy construction exposed by the media.