Death in the Chinese Mining Industry

For the first time in its history the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has begun releasing death toll figures from coal mine accidents; they have also for the first time admitted that several thousand miners die annually. However, observers believe the real figure is much higher than the official one.

Just looking at the official figure, China's coal mine accident death toll far exceeds that of all other countries in the world put together. Mining in China has become the most dangerous occupation in the world. And this from a country that is going to host the Olympic Games next year.

Recently, Mr Feng, a Voice of America (VOA) short-wave radio listener in mainland China, wrote a letter to the VOA regarding a coal mine accident in Shandong province. Mr Feng said that during the flood accident in Huayuan Coalmine in Shandong, which led to the death of 170 miners, the cruelty of the local regime was blood-curdling.



Mr Feng wrote, "When the first group of miners got out of the mine, the water level inside the mine had already reached as high as the calf, but as the company was more concerned about profits than the miners' lives, they continued to send the second group of miners down into the mine—afterwards, the accident was classified as a natural disaster. The family of every dead miner should have received 170,000 yuan (approximately £11,333.00) in compensation, but the company's leaders embezzled the money. Consequently, it sparked daily protests of about 350 to 400 relatives in front of the Mining Bureau. The local regime mobilised large numbers of police to suppress the protesters, and sent three to four ‘officers’ to monitor every dead miner's family."

Mr Feng said the management of the mine is very inhumane. Miners are forced to work overtime under all kinds of pretexts, but never receive any compensation. It is common to work for over 12 hours without a break.

He wrote in the letter, "According to the mine's punishment regulations, the penalty for being late for work is 20 yuan (approximately £1.50), and the penalty for missing one shift is 100 yuan (approximately £6.50), but miners do not earn much in a whole month. In recent years, the mining industry has been very profitable, but miners' wages have not increased at all. The union is supposed to protect worker's rights, but now it stands on the side of the company, helping to find excuses to monitor the families of the dead.

Mr Feng also disclosed that in order to prevent the miners from protesting, the company sent 17 bus loads of miners to its other mines around the country, such as in Shaan'xi, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia.

He wrote, "Those miners that are transferred to other places do not receive any assurances. They live in tents, eating pickles everyday. Some of them complained to upper level authorities, but have received no reply. Some returned home without permission and were dismissed immediately, regardless of how long they have worked for the company. The company does not care for the miners' interests, but only cares about profits. Their only concern is to exploit the coal mine in the shortest time possible at the expense of miners' safety and the local environment."

This, I am afraid, is the sad state of an industry that is a million miles away from the cheap tat that is exported to the West under designer labels.