China Update
Published by MAC on 2007-06-15
China update
15th June 2007
A meeting between the EU and the Chinese authorities was aborted last month when the Chinese delegation walked out, protesting at the presence of two Chinese-directed human rights groups.
One of these was the China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based NGO which, inter alia, examines the impacts of the mining industry on China's workforces - specifically in coal.
Here we also reproduce in full an address made by CLB's director, Han Dongfang, on the eighteenth anniversary of the Tianamen Square massacre. This is accompanied by a list of Labour activists who have been persecuted by the regime - a significant number of whom are involved in the minerals' industry.
Appalling mistreatment of brick kiln workers (including children as young as eight) has shocked many Chinese citizens.
Our regular summary of what Chinese minerals and metals companies are up to abroad carries news from Burma, Kenya, India, Peru and the US; while Canada's Alcan is planning to expand its presence in China