作者：赵杰 编辑：gloria 翻译：周敏
1月8日，河南省驻马店市新蔡县今是清华园高级中学。家属反映，孩子在校期间不明原因身亡，具体经过尚不清楚。
据多名家属及现场目击者称，事发后校方曾尝试联系救护车将遗体运离学校，但被其他学生家长驾驶货车堵在现场，要求等待家属到场后再行处理。截止当晚十点，家属还聚集在学校门口讨说法，还遭到政府当局派遣的特警及保安人员阻拦。
孩子校內亡故，对一个家庭来说是天塌了，可对政府来说，好像只是一件需要“处理”的事。河南新蔡是这样，陕西蒲城也是这样。不是先把事说清楚、先让父母看一眼孩子，而是先把门关上。
你站在校门口，他们跟你说“等一下”；你想进宿舍，他们跟你说“不合适”；你想问一句发生了什么，他们就开始跟你讲“稳定”“程序”“影响”。说白了，就是一句话：你别问了。我以前还真信过一句话：这是地方政府的问题，中央是好的。”可现在我一点都不信了。地方政府这么干不是一天两天了，不是一个县、一个市。一次次同样的套路，一次次同样的遮掩，中央政府要是真想管，会一点办法都没有吗？不可能。
习近平天天在电视上讲话，说什么“以人民为中心”“生命至上”。可我看到的是什么？是孩子死了，父母被挡在门外；是监控永远坏在关键时候；是视频被删，是信息被封，是事情慢慢“消失”。如果这也叫“生命至上”，那我真的不知道什么叫生命至下。
你说中央政府不知道地方在干什么吗？我不信。他们只是选择不看。只要地方能把事情压住，只要别闹到全国都知道，中央就可以继续开会、讲话、拍宣传片。
最让人寒心的是这种逻辑已经变成了常态。地方政府心里清楚：出了事，第一件事不是找真相，而是找办法别让事情传出去。而中央政府给他们的信号也很明确：只要你稳住了，我们就睁一只眼闭一只眼。所以他们敢这么干。
我只是个普通人。
可作为普通人，我越来越有一种感觉：在这个体系里，普通人的命，真的不值钱。河南新蔡的父母，陕西蒲城的父母，他们要的其实很简单：不是推翻谁，不是闹革命，就是一句话——我孩子到底怎么死的。连这点要求，都显得“不合时宜”。有时候我会想，如果哪天换成我，我站在校门口，被一群人挡着，被要求“配合工作”，被劝“顾全大局”。那一刻，我可能才会真正明白，什么叫“以人民为中心”。原来意思是：让你站在中心被压住。
说到底，问题不只是某个校长、某个县长。
问题是：习近平治下的中央政府，默认了这种对待普通人的方式。只要这套逻辑不变，蒲城不会是最后一个。新蔡也不会是最后一个，而我们每一个普通，都只是还没轮到而已。
想到这里，无法入眠。
When a Child Dies on Campus: From Pucheng, Shaanxi to Xincai, Henan—How Local and Central Governments Obscure the Truth
Author: Jie Zhao Editor: Gloria Translator: Min Zhou
Abstract: On January 8, a student at Jinshi Tsinghua Park Senior High School in Xincai County, Henan Province, died of unknown causes. Family members claim the school failed to explain the specifics of the incident and later attempted to move the body, leading to a confrontation with parents. That evening, as families gathered at the school gate to demand justice, they were met with control measures by SWAT teams and security personnel. The incident has sparked external concerns regarding campus safety and information transparency.
On January 8, at Jinshi Tsinghua Park Senior High School in Xincai County, Zhumadian City, Henan Province. Family members reported that a child died under unknown causes while at school, and the specific circumstances are not yet clear.
According to multiple family members and eyewitnesses on the scene, after the incident occurred, the school attempted to contact an ambulance to transport the body away from the school, but they were blocked at the scene by other students’ parents driving trucks, who demanded that the situation not be handled until the family arrived. As of 10:00 PM that night, family members were still gathered at the school gate demanding an explanation, and were also blocked by SWAT teams and security personnel dispatched by the government authorities.
When a child dies inside a school, for a family, the sky has collapsed. But for the government, it seems like just a matter that needs to be “processed.” It is like this in Xincai, Henan, and it was like this in Pucheng, Shaanxi. It is not about clarifying the situation first, or letting the parents see the child first; it is about closing the gates first.
You stand at the school gate, and they tell you to “wait a moment”; you want to enter the dormitory, and they tell you it is “inappropriate”; you want to ask what happened, and they start talking to you about “stability,” “procedure,” and “impact.” To put it bluntly, it is just one sentence: Stop asking. I used to truly believe a saying: “This is a problem with the local government; the Center is good.” But now, I don’t believe it at all. The local government has not been doing this for just a day or two, and it is not just one county or one city. With the same routines time after time, the same cover-ups time after time—if the Central Government really wanted to manage it, would they truly have no way at all? Impossible.
Xi Jinping speaks on television every day, saying things like “putting people at the center” and “life above all else.” But what do I see? I see that the child is dead and the parents are blocked outside the gate; I see that the surveillance cameras always break at the critical moment; I see videos deleted, information blocked, and the matter slowly “disappearing.” If this is also called “life above all,” then I truly do not know what “life at the bottom” is.
Do you say the Central Government doesn’t know what the local authorities are doing? I don’t believe it. They simply choose not to look. As long as the local authorities can suppress the matter, as long as it doesn’t break out to the point that the whole country knows, the Center can continue to hold meetings, give speeches, and film propaganda videos.
The most chilling part is that this logic has already become the norm. Local governments know in their hearts: when something happens, the first thing is not to find the truth, but to find a way to keep the matter from spreading out. And the signal given to them by the Central Government is also very clear: as long as you keep things stable, we will turn a blind eye. That is why they dare to act this way.
I am just an ordinary person.
But as an ordinary person, I have an increasing feeling: in this system, the lives of ordinary people are truly worth nothing. The parents in Xincai, Henan, and the parents in Pucheng, Shaanxi—what they want is actually very simple: it is not to overthrow anyone, it is not to start a revolution, it is just one sentence—how exactly did my child die? Even this small request appears “inopportune.” Sometimes I think, if one day it were me, standing at the school gate, being blocked by a group of people, being asked to “cooperate with the work,” and being advised to “consider the big picture.” At that moment, I might truly understand what “putting people at the center” means. It turns out the meaning is: letting you stand in the center to be crushed.
Ultimately, the problem is not just a certain principal or a certain county head.
The problem is: the Central Government under Xi Jinping’s rule has defaulted to this way of treating ordinary people. As long as this logic remains unchanged, Pucheng will not be the last. Xincai will not be the last, and every one of us ordinary people is just waiting for our turn.
Thinking of this, I cannot sleep.
