Details of steel executive's death emerge

The beating death of a steel company executive during a riot at state-owned Tonghua Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. on July 24 in Jilin Province has been widely blamed on workers protesting a company restructuring.

Now, interviews by Caijing have shed more light on the death of Tonghua's general manager, Chen Guojun, and events that led to the tragedy.

Chen, 39, had been deputy general manager before rising to general manager the day he died, taking over the post from Sun Yubin, a veteran at Tonghua's parent, Tonghua Iron & Steel Group.
Chen had little influence over company operations as well as little reason for any contact -- or friction -- with most mill workers. He was not well known even among his direct colleagues.

A company executive called Chen decent and industrious. He also denied rumors that the victim had threatened massive layoffs at the steel mill as part of an ongoing restructuring.

During the riot, according to executives and workers interviewed by Caijing, Tonghua workers blocked a railway to prevent supplies from reaching the mill, forcing the company to suspend production for several hours. They then went to a coke plant and surrounded an office where Chen was hiding before attacking him.

An initial investigation revealed that the attack came in two stages. The first occurred at about 11 a.m., after which Chen left the scene under protection of security staff. He hid in an office building at the coke plant, and the security staff locked him behind two iron doors.

But then more than 200 people attacked the building. At 4:38 p.m., sources said, someone found Chen hiding in the office and the doors were forced open.

Police were informed that Chen was in danger, but they were unable to rescue him. Rioters blocked police, ambulances and government officials who tried to reach Chen before he died.

Inside the office building, according to a source, someone cried out "Chen must die." An autopsy showed Chen suffered a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage.
There is no evidence Chen threatened steelworkers with mass layoffs. But apparently protesters heard rumors that the steelmaker Jianlong, a Beijing-based private company planning to acquire Tonghua, was training a new, 200-member management team, and that tens of thousands of employees would be laid off. Another rumor alleged that Jianlong would move the company to the city of Jilin.

An agreement between Jilin's provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) and Jianlong includes no mention of pay cuts or layoffs after a restructuring. It does say, however, that workers would receive higher pay based on company profits.

But this agreement document was not seen by most Tonghua workers, apparently leaving room for rumor mongering.

Some witnesses told Caijing that many people who wore no company uniforms were among the rioters attacking Chen. They may have been tied to "gray business" iron and steel operations in the area, some of which are near the steelmaker.

Tonghua's business hit a bump last year as China's steel industry posted losses, triggering disputes about the company's restructuring plan and increasing labor-management friction. In fact, before Jianlong became a Tonghua shareholder, discontent had been rising among workers because executives had hired relatives.