Warnings ignored before mine disaster (3)

The mine, affiliated to the State-owned Huajin Coking Coal Co Ltd, is a major project approved by the provincial government. It is expected to produce 6 million tons of coal annually once in operation.

Xinjiang mine collapse

In Northwest China\’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, 10 people have been trapped underground after a coal mine under construction collapsed on Tuesday.

Twenty-one workers were in the shaft when the accident happened about 10 am at the Shajihai Coal Mine in the autonomous county of Hoboksar and 11 were lifted safely to the ground, a county government spokesman said.

The local authorities have launched a rescue operation, he said, adding that the cause of the collapse is being investigated.

More than 110 people have been dispatched to rescue the trapped workers, but their efforts have been hampered by various difficulties, a spokesman with the Xinjiang coal mine work safety bureau said late on Tuesday.

"The collapse site is as deep as 700 meters underground, and the collapsed part is estimated to be 500 to 600 cubic meters. The geological structure underground is very loose. In addition, water has begun gushing into the shaft," he said.

"We have not established contact with the trapped workers so far," he added.

Source: China Daily
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Expo security tightened (2)

Many believe the Expo faces tougher security challenges compared to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games due to the six-month duration and huge number of visitors, estimated at 70 million.

Pan Guang, an expert on anti-terror affairs at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said for any big event, vigilance tends to wane as it draws on.

Li Wei, director of the anti-terrorism research center at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said security threats could come from anywhere, such as from "East Turkistan" terrorist organizations seeking Xinjiang "independence".

Shanghai has taken such measures as extending the X-ray scanning of passengers\’ hand luggage to all metro stations.

City officials are also hoping to close a deal with

Swedish security services provider Securitas AB.

Taking a cue from Beijing\’s preparations for the 2008 Games, Shanghai has called on 1 million volunteers – many of them retirees – to patrol streets and detect any security hazards.

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Beijingers richer but unhappier (3)

But Liu\’s life isn\’t all stress and unhappiness – she recently indulged a bit and bought a villa in Daxing district with a yard in front, saying she\’s always had the quintessential urban dream of owning a house in the country.

"I\’d love to live in a place like that when we retire," Liu said, with a beaming smile on her face.

"I\’m already counting down the years until my retirement," she added.

Unlike Liu, who says she is a bit confused about her position in the social echelons, 36-year-old Wang Xin, a middle-ranking office worker at a state-owned company in Beijing, know exactly where he fits.

He calls himself pre-middle class and said he will likely become a real member of the middle class after he turns 40.

Wang said he totally disagrees with a report by Lu Xueyi, a renowned sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which said that China\’s middle class now comprises 23 percent of its 1.3 billion population.

Though definitions for middle class vary in China, many hold that middle class families should have household incomes of at least $10,000 a year, own an apartment and a car, eat out often and travel on vacations.

"There are simply not that many people in this country who belong to this privileged group," Wang said.

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Expo security tightened (3)

The combination of professional anti-terrorism forces and the public "forms an effective anti-terrorism module", Wu Heping, the spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, told a Tuesday news briefing.

"In general, China\’s security situation is stable," he said.

Yu said the focus in the coming month is the six trial runs which will be staged in and around the Expo site, each involving 500,000 people.

He warned the public that visiting the Expo will not be a picnic because of the expected huge influx of visitors. An average of 400,000 people are expected to visit the Expo daily between May 1 and Oct 31.

More than 15 million visited the Aichi Expo in Japan five years ago, with each pavilion taking up to four hours to visit.

Shanghai has come up with various measures to deal with the crowds expected to flood the Expo on weekends or holidays, Yu said.

For instance, individual visitors are encouraged to join group tours. The Labor Day holiday will also be extended by two days, from April 30 to May 4, Yu said. The measure is designed to help ease the travel crush during the period.

The opening of the Expo will include a 30-minute art performance, Yu said, after which the scene will shift to the Huangpu River – to highlight the identity and location of the host city – where fireworks, fountains, lighting displays and music shows will be staged. The entire ceremony will last for around one-and-half hours.

Source: China Daily
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He lived to tell the tale

Coal mine worker in Xinjiang recalls horror of shaft collapse

Hoboksar, Xinjiang

Yong Chang is very clear about what he will not do in the future.

"I will never go down the shaft and be a mine worker again for the rest of my life, no matter how much they pay me," said the 28-year-old, who is still traumatized after escaping from a collapsed coal mine in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Yong, who is recovering in hospital, was the first to be rescued from Shajihai Coal Mine when the shaft\’s ceiling suddenly collapsed at about 10:30 am on Tuesday. The coalmine was under construction in the Mongolian autonomous county of Hoboksar, 500 km from Urumqi, capital of the region.

A total of 11 workers were rescued while 10 others are still trapped in the shaft filled with mud and sand. The trapped workers are between 20 and 51 and they are from Hebei, Shandong, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. Their families have arrived at the coal mine.

The trapped workers need a "miracle" to survive, an official with the rescue team told China Daily on Friday.

At about 3 am Friday morning, two special rescue teams equipped with search dogs and detectors arrived at the scene hoping to find any sign of survivors, but the teams later said the chances of the trapped workers surviving the accident are "extremely slim".

The local authority is drafting a compensation plan for the victims, said Zhang Hongwei, chief commander of the rescue mission.

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Tons of oil spills into Luohe River

Villagers build a makeshift dam to stop the leaked oil sludge from flowing further into the Luohe River on Thursday. Huang Xianming / for china daily
Ground collapse at Shaanxi sewage treatment plant to blame: Officials

Some 1,000 tons of oil sludge spilled from a sewage treatment plant has contaminated Luohe River in Luochuan county of Northwest China\’s Shaanxi province, local officials said on Friday.

The Luohe River is a tributary of the Yellow River, referred to as the "Mother River" in China because it is the water source for millions of people.

Wang Xirong, deputy magistrate of Luochuan county, told China Daily that on Sunday morning, an oil sludge recycling pool at a sewage treatment plant in Yan\’an city collapsed, sending some 1,000 tons of oil sludge flowing, with some going into the Luohe River.

The oil spill is the second river pollution incident to hit the province in three months, after the Yellow River was contaminated by a diesel fuel leak in early January.

Zhang Xun, deputy director of emergency office under the Ministry of Environmental Protection, who is leading a team to deal with the incident, has demanded the decontamination be finished within five days.

"We should try every way to stop the contamination source from going out of Yan\’an," he said.

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang has instructed local authorities to ensure the safety of the drinking water downstream of the river.

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Beijingers richer but unhappier (4)

Wang owns two apartments in Beijing, both bought with loans, and an investment portfolio worth 2 million yuan, but said he still doesn\’t think he qualifies as middle class yet.

"Genuine members of the middle class are those with the money as well as other resources, such as leisure time, to maintain a certain lifestyle," he said.

"But many of my friends who make decent salaries at big multinational companies dare not buy whatever they like and make any mistakes at work," he said. "These people aren\’t genuinely in the middle class, because if they lose their jobs, they will immediately be poor."

Wang said even his friends who make enough money to not worry about being unemployed for a while don\’t have the leisure time that is a hallmark of middle class families in the West.

One of Wang\’s friends makes more than 700,000 yuan per year as a sales manager but still "lives like a dog," he said.

"In the past few years this friend\’s sales quota was 20 million yuan, but this year it surged to 200 million yuan, " said Wang. "He doesn\’t have any time left for fun."

It feels like a never never-ending struggle to keep from falling behind, Wang said.

He said his criteria for being genuinely middle class includes having enough time to be with family and to travel abroad during vacations, as well as having enough money to be able to donate to charitable causes and to take care of his health.

Wang said his definition of middle class life is that depicted on Desperate Housewives, an American television comedy-drama series popular with the well-educated young professionals in China – owning a big house surrounded by green lawns and beautiful flowers and having plenty of leisure time.

"So many Chinese are still struggling to get richer," said Wang. "We simply don\’t have enough time to fulfill our other needs."

Source: China Daily
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Beijingers richer but unhappier (3)

But Liu\’s life isn\’t all stress and unhappiness – she recently indulged a bit and bought a villa in Daxing district with a yard in front, saying she\’s always had the quintessential urban dream of owning a house in the country.

"I\’d love to live in a place like that when we retire," Liu said, with a beaming smile on her face.

"I\’m already counting down the years until my retirement," she added.

Unlike Liu, who says she is a bit confused about her position in the social echelons, 36-year-old Wang Xin, a middle-ranking office worker at a state-owned company in Beijing, know exactly where he fits.

He calls himself pre-middle class and said he will likely become a real member of the middle class after he turns 40.

Wang said he totally disagrees with a report by Lu Xueyi, a renowned sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which said that China\’s middle class now comprises 23 percent of its 1.3 billion population.

Though definitions for middle class vary in China, many hold that middle class families should have household incomes of at least $10,000 a year, own an apartment and a car, eat out often and travel on vacations.

"There are simply not that many people in this country who belong to this privileged group," Wang said.

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China\’s railways see leap in passenger numbers in first quarter

China\’s railways transported a total number of 417.8 million passengers in the first quarter this year, up 9.3 percent year on year, the Ministry of Railways announced Friday.

A total amount of 899.9 million tonnes of freight was transported in the first three months, up 18 percent year on year, the ministry said in a statement on its official website.

But the statement did not specify the reasons for the growth in passenger numbers and freight.

More than 204 million Chinese traveled by train during the 40-day Spring Festival traffic peak, a record for the Spring Festival period, said the statement.

Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, fell on Feb. 14 this year. Millions of Chinese journeyed across China for family reunions during the peak period beginning Jan. 30.

The ministry called for greater efforts of its branches nationwide to help local governments fight the severe drought in the country\’s southwestern regions.

Source: Xinhua

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Tons of oil spills into Luohe River

Villagers build a makeshift dam to stop the leaked oil sludge from flowing further into the Luohe River on Thursday. Huang Xianming / for china daily
Ground collapse at Shaanxi sewage treatment plant to blame: Officials

Some 1,000 tons of oil sludge spilled from a sewage treatment plant has contaminated Luohe River in Luochuan county of Northwest China\’s Shaanxi province, local officials said on Friday.

The Luohe River is a tributary of the Yellow River, referred to as the "Mother River" in China because it is the water source for millions of people.

Wang Xirong, deputy magistrate of Luochuan county, told China Daily that on Sunday morning, an oil sludge recycling pool at a sewage treatment plant in Yan\’an city collapsed, sending some 1,000 tons of oil sludge flowing, with some going into the Luohe River.

The oil spill is the second river pollution incident to hit the province in three months, after the Yellow River was contaminated by a diesel fuel leak in early January.

Zhang Xun, deputy director of emergency office under the Ministry of Environmental Protection, who is leading a team to deal with the incident, has demanded the decontamination be finished within five days.

"We should try every way to stop the contamination source from going out of Yan\’an," he said.

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang has instructed local authorities to ensure the safety of the drinking water downstream of the river.

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http://www.cne.cc