Backlash as miners shot by Chinese overseers (in Zambia)

[pinboy3niner]

Source: Telegraph, London (via The Sydney Morning Herald)



Backlash as miners shot by Chinese overseers
Aislinn Laing
October 21, 2010

JOHANNESBURG: A backlash against China's powerful presence in the Zambian economy has been triggered by an incident in which 11 miners were shot by Chinese managers.

Police said the Chinese executives opened fire on workers protesting against poor pay and conditions at the Collum coalmine in the Sinazongwe district of Southern Province on Friday.

Eleven people were treated for wounds to the stomach, hands and legs and two are understood to remain in a critical condition.

A foreign ministry official in Beijing said the shooting was a ''mistake'' but the incident has led to demands to curb China's dominant position in mining investments. It invested $402 million in Zambia's mining industry last year.

MORE:
http://www.smh.com.au/world/backlash-as-miners-shot-by-chinese-overseers-20101020-16uc5.html

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. Gotta love that "workers solidarity". nt

[jdlh8894]

2. Where is the UN ???

[Angry Dragon]

3. China continues to flex its muscle

I question whether this country can stand up to China
for world domination. We are spread so thin, lack of money.

[Uncle Joe]

6. No, because that path will eventually lead to World War III; in which case no nation will win.

The U.S. China and the rest of Earth must come up with a different paradigm for humanity to survive.

"I question whether this country can stand up to China
for world domination. We are spread so thin, lack of money."

[Angry Dragon]

9. I do not question that WWIII could be the result of that

I just stated what I saw.

Another post on DU yesterday or late last night stated that
China was stopping shipments of rare earth metals
to US and Europe. We use these for weapons and other things.
They own the foreclosure mill in Florida and other states.
They just bought some oil rights in Texas.
They hold a large chunk of T-Bills.
Lopsided trade.

They hold many cards.

I talk of world domination, How many countries have we tried to influence
by military or CIA?? How many countries do we have a military presence??

I fear the world is on the brink of a major shift.

[Uncle Joe]

11. I agree with you, the world is on the brink of a major shift and it reminds

me of a fable about an Oak Tree making fun of a grove of Willow Trees; because they swayed and bent with every breeze, while the Oak Tree stood strong and firm.

One morning after a major windstorm had struck in which the Willow Trees had swayed wildly and the Oak Tree stood rigid, the Willows were astounded to see the mighty Oak pulled up from its' roots, laying on it's side and splintered as so many toothpicks.

The U.S. needs to change with the times or we will be uprooted, perhaps if we can successfully adapt to the world; while making far more friends than enemies, China will learn from our example and follow suit with the result of humanity; becoming more flexible and adaptable to our ever shrinking world.

If we change and China doesn't, China will become the Oak Tree.

[BurtWorm]

4. A "mistake?!"

:wtf:

A PR mistake, they mean. Or maybe they were referring to a mistake in the choice of weapon?

[Enrique]

5. Chinese bosses carry guns?

:scared:

[Larkspur]

7. You mean that China didn't outsource these mining jobs to China?

I'm surprised that they didn't get Zambia to install an H-1B visa type program to import Chinese labor to do the mining.

[jdlh8894]

8. Why would they?

Do you realize people are trying to get out of that country,not IN?

[pinboy3niner]

10. Good point!

And with China's notoriously bad working conditions for miners, they'd only be enabling defections.

[LeftinOH]

12. What China needs is a proletarian revolution to stop this sort of thing from happening..

Oh, wait -never mind.

[pinboy3niner]

13. Yeah, that sure did a lot for the workers, didn't it?

:sarcasm:

ETA: Though this involved local workers at a Chinese mine in Zambia, miners in China fare no better in terms of mine safety and working conditions. Stories on the coal mine blast in China Saturday report 2,600 deaths in Chinese mines last year (though that's an improvement over the 7,000 deaths in 2002):

33 Miners Saved in Chile / 37 Miners Dead in China
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9353796

[sakabatou]

14. WTF?!