NO BLOOD FOR WEAPONS DEALS:

Blood and coal: the human cost of cheap Chinese goods (Jonathan Watts, March 14, 2005, The Guardian)

More than 5,000 Chinese miners are killed each year, 75% of the global total, even though the country produces only a third of the world's coal. Working under appalling safety conditions, they are sacrificed to fuel the factories that make the cheap goods snapped up by consumers in Britain and other wealthy nations.

Faced with energy shortages this winter, the government has stepped up the pressure on mine operators to raise output. This has contributed to a spate of the worst disasters in the country's history. Last month, 216 miners were killed at Sunjiawan mine in north-east China in the most deadly accident in 50 years. Last October, another gas explosion killed 148. Last Thursday, a cave-in at a mine in Sha'anxi province killed 16 miners and left another 11 trapped underground.

Countless other accidents at small unregistered mines go unreported because the owners - often in collusion with local officials - buy off or threaten the victims' families. There is widespread anger that miners' lives are being sacrificed for economic growth. "It's said there is blood on every piece of coal in China," says one of the widows, Mrs Wang. "My husband used to talk about the danger all the time. But we are very poor. We have children. What else could we do?"

The five-mile deep pit at Chenjiashan had a particularly bad reputation. Four years ago, 38 men died in a gas explosion. Five days before the latest accident a fire broke out underground. "We came up, but the bosses told us to go back. We didn't want to, but we had to," says one miner, Li, who lost his brother in the explosion. "We all needed the money and there is a penalty of 100 yuan (around £6) for refusing to go down."

The managers, who had reportedly been promised a hefty bonus to increase production, ordered the men to keep working even though it had become hard to breathe underground. On the morning of the accident, Li was preparing to start his shift, when workers came running out of the shaft, saying they had seen thick fog and smoke. "Every miner knows that means there's been an explosion," he said.

Last week the bereaved were supposed to hold ceremonies to mark the end of the 100-day mourning period, but many widows say they are still unable to grieve properly because their husbands' bodies have yet to be recovered. "Our husbands' bodies are still underground," said Mrs Zhang. "But when we went to ask the mine supervisor for action, the security men beat us. One woman was hurt so badly she is still in hospital."

Economics are a major factor in the death rate. Life is cheap, while coal is increasingly dear.

So where are all those marching crowds when their own governments want to cut weapons deals with the Chinese despite the regime's disregard for human life, nevermind rights?

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 14, 2005 10:22 PM