The State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) is bearing the brunt of criticism after an investigation showed that a Shanxi coal mine at the centre of a hush money scandal also paid a SAWS television programme 20,000 yuan (HK$22,750) to secure its silence.
The investigation, lasting more than two months, ended with four journalists barred and 14 news organisations sanctioned, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) said yesterday.
The investigation found that the Huobaogan River Coal Mine had paid SAWS' Safe Zone programme, which is broadcast on China Educational Television, on the pretext of paying for a set of work-safety-education DVDs.
The investigation's outcome has not only shocked the mainland media but also shamed many central government agencies. The already shabby image of the work safety authority, in particular, has been further tarnished.
SAWS responded yesterday by saying that it had sacked the programme's producer, Guo Rusong , and director Duan Minfeng , and returned the payment.
But SAWS was not the only central government body involved in the scandal. Legal Daily, run by the Communist Party's administration and law committee, extorted nearly 40,000 yuan from the mine. Green China, a magazine of the State Forestry Administration, received 10,000 yuan and China Fortune, a publication of the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, accepted 1,000 yuan.
Other recipients included Modern Consumption News, Shanxi Science and Technology News, Science Express, Government Law and Regulation magazine and Shanxi Legal Daily, all based in the province.
