Chinese Miners Die Again And Again And Again

Chinese mine accidents continue to occur at an alarming rate. In the latest a gas explosion has reportedly killed 54:

(Xinhua) A gas explosion in a colliery in Tangshan, North China's Hebei Province, has killed 54 miners and left 22 missing. At least 186 miners were working underground when the blast occurred at 3:30 pm in Liuguantun Mine in Tangshan's Kaiping District. By press time, 110 miners had escaped, but 22 others were still trapped in the coal pit.

The Chinese mining industry has seen the death of 2700 people in the just the first have of 2005. Over the past month a quick Google Search reveals there have been six other mine accidents reported in just the past month.

Nov 7: 42 killed, 21 missing in two mine accidents

At least 42 people were killed and 21 missing in two mining accidents in North China on Sunday one day before the authorities decreed that a senior manager has to accompany coal miners underground on every shift. A gypsum-mine collapse in Hebei Province claimed the lives of 27 with 20 missing on Sunday evening. The accident happened at 7:40 pm at Kangli Gypsum Mine of Shangwang Village in Xingtai, according to the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS)... In Shanxi Province, a coal mine blast killed 15 miners on Sunday morning in Qingxu County near Taiyuan, the provincial capital. One miner is missing.

Nov 9: Explosion in miners' dormitory kills 14

Fourteen people were killed and two seriously injured in an early morning explosion yesterday at the Beitashan Coal Mine in Qitai County, about 150 kilometres east of Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Nov 11: 7 miners killed in Inner Mongolia colliery gas blast

Seven miners were killed and nine others still trapped in a colliery gas explosion occurred Friday afternoon in Wuhai City of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Nov 28: 68 killed, 74 saved in Heilongjiang coal mine blast

As of 2:00 p.m. Monday, the death toll rose to 68 in Sunday night's coal mine blast in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said sources with the National Bureau of Production Safety Supervision and Administration. Rescuers have saved 74 miners while 79 others still trapped underground. Li Yizhong, head of the administration, called for rescuers to "spare no efforts to save the trapped miners." Altogether 221 miners were working underground when the blast went off at 9:40 p.m. Sunday at Dongfeng Coal Mine run by the Qitaihe branch of the Longmei Mining (Group) Co., Ltd., according to the provincial coal mine safety bureau.

Dec 1: Mine death toll could rise to 171

The number of miners working underground on Sunday night when an explosion ripped through a coal mine in this Northeast China city was put at 241 yesterday, up from the 221 previously announced. That means the death toll in the Dongfeng Coal Mine blast could rise to 171 instead of an earlier estimate of 151.

Dec 1: Coal mine blast in Hebei kills 5

A coal mine blast has killed five miners and left one missing in north China's Hebei Province, local authorities said Friday. The gas explosion occurred at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Xipo Coal Mine in Weixian County of Zhangjiakou City, according to the provincial coal mine safety bureau.

Dec 5: Latest mine accidents kill 16, 45 missing

Three more mining accidents over the weekend have claimed 16 lives and left 45 people missing... Explosions ripped through two separate collieries on Friday morning in Guizhou Province in Southwest China. Sixteen miners were killed, 15 were rescued, and three were still missing yesterday. The third of the latest tragedies unfolded on Friday night when a coal mine in Central China's Henan Province was flooded, leaving 42 miners missing.

On a daily basis it seems we are reading about yet another mine accident in China killing dozens of miners, or yet another suicide bomber in Iraq killing dozens of Iraqis. If it is of any consolation to the Iraqis, I think Americans probably care more about their deaths than the Chinese deaths, if for no other reason than the fact American soldiers are also victims of such attacks. Yet what is going on in China is also an outrage. The conditions are abominable, and the safety precautions seem non-existent.

China is aggressively trying to grow its global economic hegemony, pricing products at levels that are almost impossible to beat, and moving into untapped markets in developing nations, such as in Africa. Yet this growth is coming at the expense of a working force that is being treated as a disposable, replaceable resource. As China becomes a greater economic threat to Western nations, just how they are making their gains is increasingly falling under the microscope. We have a moral obligation to put pressure on the Chinese to clean up their act and to improve working conditions and safety, and not just play lip service to the issue.

Cross-posted at On The Road To 2008.