Source: Jinghua Times

China Railway Signal&Communication Corporation (CRRC), which was deeply involved in the 7.23 Yongwen high-speed train collision, reported a big news yesterday - the group's general manager Ma Cheng died of a sudden heart attack on August 22. As the 7.23 accident is about to enter a critical stage of responsibility determination, the sudden death of Ma Cheng immediately attracted attention from all parties.

Died of a sudden illness

Yesterday, China Railway Signal&Communication Corporation released an obituary on its official website "China Railway Signal&Communication Network" stating that Ma Cheng, General Manager and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of China Railway Signal&Communication Group Corporation, suffered a sudden heart attack during the safety inspection of the Shenzhen project. Despite unsuccessful rescue efforts, he passed away on August 22 at the age of 55. The reporter logged into the "China Communications Network" and saw that the color of the website homepage had changed to black and white.

He died of illness while reporting to the inspection team in Shenzhen, "an anonymous insider from China Communications told reporters yesterday." Ma Cheng died of a sudden heart attack, and rescue efforts were ineffective. However, on the internet, a person claiming to be familiar with Ma Cheng claimed that he had no history of heart disease.

The reporter learned that Ma Cheng was accompanying the inspection team of the "State Council High speed Railway Safety Inspection" to inspect the Guangzhou Shenzhen Hong Kong Passenger Dedicated Railway when he fell ill, and reported his work to the inspection team. The insider of China Communications System stated that they do not understand why Ma Cheng had a sudden heart attack.

According to the unified deployment of the State Council, 286 staff members were selected from 12 ministries and commissions to form 12 inspection teams for the high-speed rail safety inspection. They conducted comprehensive inspections of 49 high-speed rail projects under construction in 10 railway bureaus. It is reported that the inspection team has visited the China Communications Center multiple times, and "even visited the headquarters on August 17th," according to the above-mentioned person.

Two targets of criticism

After the 7.23 accident, China Communications became a target of public criticism. On July 28th, An Lusheng, the director of the Shanghai Railway Bureau, publicly stated that based on preliminary analysis, there were serious design flaws in the signal equipment at Wenzhou South Station. After being struck by lightning and malfunctioning, the section signal that should have displayed a red light was mistakenly displayed as a green light. Peng Kaizhou, deputy head of the State Council's accident investigation team and deputy minister of the Ministry of Railways, revealed that there are 58 stations and 18 relay stations in China that use the same type of signal equipment as Wenzhou South Station. The design unit of the signal equipment at Wenzhou South Station is Beijing Quanlu Communication Signal Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd., which is a subsidiary of China Railway Signal&Communication Corporation. After the statement of "signal design defects" was made, Beijing Quanlu Communication Signal Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. posted an apology letter on its official website on July 28th, stating that it will "actively cooperate with relevant national departments and the Ministry of Railways' accident investigation work, dare to take responsibility, and accept the deserved punishment. For a moment, China Communications was pushed to the forefront of public opinion. This undoubtedly puts immense pressure on China Communications Technology Co., Ltd., which has just been established and is preparing to go public.

However, from the subsequent development of the situation, China Railway Signal&Communication seems to have played the role of a scapegoat, sharing the pressure on the Ministry of Railways. In fact, as early as July 28th, the person in charge of propaganda at China Railway Signal&Communication Corporation repeatedly emphasized to reporters that the signal system, which was accused of having design defects, had been delivered to the Ministry of Railways for two years without any casualties.

Is it due to pressure?

There is no resume of Ma Cheng on China Communications Network. It is reported that Ma Cheng is the second batch of college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination, and has been working in the field of communication for nearly 20 years. He is a very rigorous person, with rigorous work and strict requirements for subordinates. We all respect him very much, "a China Railway Signal and Communication System employee described Ma Cheng in an interview yesterday.

On July 23, Wang Mengshu, the deputy leader of the accident investigation expert group and an academician of the CAE Member, told reporters yesterday that he was shocked by Ma Cheng's death

There is no doubt that Ma Cheng and the Chinese signal company he manages are under great pressure. The reporter found through the "China Communications Network" that from July 28th to August 22nd, before Ma Cheng's death, almost all of the group's news was about safety inspections, safety self inspections, user training, and other content.

It seems to be a coincidence that on the day of Ma Cheng's death on August 22nd, Huang Yi, spokesperson for the State Administration of Work Safety, stated in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that the 7.23 accident was a responsibility accident that should not have occurred and could have been avoided and prevented. The 7.23 high-speed train accident investigation team has obtained a large amount of evidence and information on the analysis of the cause of the accident and the determination of responsibility. The next step is to enter the stage of determining accident responsibility.

Wang Mengshu told reporters that the above statement indicates that the 7.23 accident has been identified as a liability accident rather than a technical accident, so the pressure on China's communication system should be greatly reduced. The technology of the signal system is mature, but there may be issues with individual products, and separate investigations may be conducted for individual product problems.

Company statement

This matter has nothing to do with the 7.23 accident

Yesterday afternoon, the reporter arrived at the China Communications headquarters located on Fengti North Road in Fengtai District, but the security guard refused to allow the reporter to enter. Subsequently, the reporter contacted a relevant person in charge of the company. The person in charge said that Ma Cheng's physical condition is usually stable, but he is under a lot of work pressure. Many people in the company were saddened and surprised by the sudden passing of Ma Cheng, but it had nothing to do with the '7.23' accident. At present, many leaders of the company are dealing with the aftermath in Shenzhen. After Ma Cheng's death, it is currently uncertain about the leadership changes in the company.