It was a bold, even desperate, attempt by China’s leaders to cut the shocking death toll in its pits: send bosses down the shaft with the miners.
However, Chinese media reported on Tuesday that one mine had responded by appointing substitutes, increasing cynicism about whether senior staff will comply.
The order from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) was apparently prompted by an increase in the high death toll in the country’s mines, after several years’ of sharp decline.
Last year saw more than 2,600 deaths — down from a peak of almost 7,000 in 2002. But there were 1,261 in the first half of this year; an increase from 1,175 in the same period last year. It is thought the increase reflected pressure to produce as the economic recovery raised demand.
Wen ordered the new policy in July, although the China Daily said the regulation wont’ take effect until next month. Pit “leaders” must go below ground with miners or face fines of up to 80 percent of their annual income.
While many admired the intention, they had already questioned compliance levels since Wen’s announcement — pointing to fatal accidents in which mining officials were unharmed.
“Who knew that every boss who goes into the shaft is a god: Flooding, explosions, whatever it is, they can always fly free,” said a scathing commentary by Xinhua news agency last month.
The China Daily reported on Tuesday that bosses at a pit in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region had promoted seven workers to “assistants to managers” to enter the mine instead.
Li Jian, a manager at the privately owned Hongshan Chaoyang coal mining company, told the China Daily that the rule did not define exactly who constituted a leader, but said the term applied to “important people in charge, members of the leadership, and chief and deputy chief engineers.”
“We only chose those whom we deemed eligible and experienced to effectively supervise and ensure safe underground production. If our move is wrong, we’ll correct it,” he said.
Another employee in the management office told the Guardian the assistants were promoted because they were qualified and experienced technicians, not because of the policy.
However, “the big leaders and bosses have other important things to do. We cannot have everyone underground, otherwise how do we conduct our work?” he said.
A spokesman at the law enforcement and inspection office of the Guangxi bureau of coal mine safety supervision said it had not heard of substitutes being used.
“The policy is a novel idea, but as we know it doesn’t matter what the rules and regulations are in China — someone is always going to find a way around them,” said Geoff Crothall, of Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin.
Crothall said the mining industry needed thorough reform, with workers paid decent wages and trained to protect their colleagues’ safety.
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
RSS