China Update: February 2006
Published by MAC on 2006-02-15
China Update: February 2006
6th February 2006
Miners in Shanxi province have suffered yet another coal mine disaster. This followed immediately on an announcement that nearly 5,000 "illegal" mines had been closed in the province over the past six months. Yet, last week's fatalties occurred at a state-owned mine, confirming the sorry trends revealed last month (see: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/Action/press861.htm)
Government figures now show that around 700 million Chinese - more than half the entire population, working for no less than 16 million enterprises - may now be suffering from occupational illness, while the age of victims is getting younger.