China's Probe of Mining Disasters Finds Corruption, Chaos

BEIJING, Dec. 23 -- The Chinese government announced Friday that it found "astonishingly serious" corruption, chaotic management and lax enforcement of safety rules in investigating coal mine disasters that have killed thousands of Chinese workers this year.

Li Yizhong, who heads the cabinet-level Work Safety Administration, said at a news conference that 96 people have been turned over for criminal prosecution this year for their roles in the explosions and floodings that occur with relentless regularity in the coal industry as mine owners race to keep up with demand. In addition, 21 mine managers and 105 government and Communist Party officials were demoted, fired or otherwise sanctioned, including two deputy provincial governors, he said.

More than 6,000 workers perished in Chinese coal mines during 2004, making mines here the most dangerous in the world. More than 4,000 miners were killed in the first nine months of this year, and the rhythm has continued unabated, including 171 who died last month at the state-owned Dongfeng Coal Mine in Heilongjiang province.

Li's presentation appeared designed to convey the impression that President Hu Jintao's government is going all out to reduce the number of fatal accidents and to serve as a warning to officials and mine owners that they risk punishment if they continue to violate safety regulations.

"We hope that all coal mines will learn from the bitter lessons that these accidents have taught us, by strengthening their various measures to improve work safety," he declared.

But Li's report avoided tallying the overall death toll so far this year and did not mention the November tragedy at the Dongfeng mine, the year's deadliest. Instead, he said only that 11 of this year's accidents each killed 30 people or more, and six of those each killed 100 or more. Of the 11, he said, investigations have been completed on six. The careful handling of statistics illustrated the sensitive political problem that mining disasters have become in China.

For many Chinese, it is a given that local officials are taking payoffs to allow mine owners to get away with lax safety practices. The government's apparent inability to get a grip on this problem has raised questions about its repeated expressions of determination to improve what Hu calls "governing capacity."

Vows of a crackdown by Premier Wen Jiabao and other senior officials, which seem to follow each disaster, have so far had little effect. In part, this is because China's roaring economy has produced an insatiable appetite for coal, leading owners to take risks for increased production. In addition, the alliance between Communist Party officials and businessmen has created many opportunities for what Li called "power-for-money deals made by some government officials in collusion with the mine owner."

Another factor that arouses popular ire is the fact that many, if not most, coal miners are poor migrant workers so desperate for employment that they are willing to go down into the shafts under visibly unsafe conditions if their boss tells them to. The government's apparent inability to protect such vulnerable people has drawn condemnation from critics in China and abroad.