From today’s Christian Science Monitor: “When a gas explosion at 7:10 a.m. Sunday left more than 160 Chinese miners trapped thousands of feet underground, the story hit world news shortly after 10. For disaster reporting here, three hours is pure lightening speed.
Horrific mining disasters on Oct 20 and Nov. 20 in central China, likewise, were given a quicker and more complete airing than is normal in a country where tragedies, strikes, accidents, and “negative” news are rarely told.
Coal-mining disasters are an embarrassment for Chinese leaders, and they happen with frightening regularity. The state-run Xinhua agency reports some 4,153 deaths in China’s coal mines during the first nine months of this year, though China Labor Bulletin in Hong Kong estimates 20,000 annual deaths.”
