China Further Opens Up Its Minerals Sector As Protests Escalate

China further opens up its minerals sector as protests escalate

9th December 2005

Last week, yet another huge coal mine "disaster" took the lives of Chinese workers. And, at a coal-fired power plant in Donghzou village, Guangdong province, at least one man was killed and a dozen others seriously injured when police opened fire on citizens protesting against lost income and lack of compensation for deteriorating air and water quality.

The central government itself - while notorious for concealing information - has conceded that at least 3.6 million people took part in 76,000 so-called "mass incidents" last year alone, mainly in response to property loss and pollution. Surely no-one can now doubt that community action, supported by a growing number of Chinese environmental groups, cannot be countered by the regime's crass attempts at political control, or a continued flow of often-empty promises to improve livelihoods.

With China making a play, at this week's WTO meeting in Hong Kong, for greater access to minerals overseas and increased investment at home - mining companies are paying little heed to these social upheavals or the realities behind them. Their primary concern is to lower even further the barrier to securing rights to deposits, and attract Chinese capital to their own home ventures.

In Canada, meanwhile, some junior miners operating in colonised Tibet claim to be making headway in negotiating with Canada's Tibet Committee over beneficial mineral deals, though other Tibetans in exile seem far from convinced.