(Disclaimer: La Tonique Media LLC does not represent any political ideology. While we do not espouse any political beliefs, we do seek to provide a balance perspective by incorporating voices from both sides of the political spectrum.)

On Jan. 10 2021 a goldmine in Qixia, an area under the jurisdiction of the city of Yantai in Shandong province, China had an explosion that left 22 miners trapped 600 meters (1968.5 feet) underground. Managers of the mine initially refused to report the incident for over a day delaying rescue efforts, despite mining accident rules demanding that accidents be reported within the hour. The managers have since been detained by Chinese authorities. Shortly after, one of the miners died after slipping into a coma as a result of head wounds caused by the initial explosion. Fortunately, 11 of the miners were rescued on Sunday and brought to the surface two weeks after the initial blast. The fate of the other 10 miners remains unknown but over 600 rescuers continue working on-site to reach the other 10. As many of the miners rescued so far have been shown to be in relatively good physical condition, hopefully the other 10 may have survived as well. Furthermore, reaction to this mining incident will hopefully lead to firmer penalties on mining companies that fail to create safer working conditions for their miners.

Similar to the 2010 Copiapó mining accident in Chile that left 33 miners trapped in a shelter roughly 700 meters (2296.59 feet) underground for roughly 69 days, the incident in Qixia highlights the dangers of mining operations around the world. China remains one of the most dangerous mining countries in the world with a little over 500 deaths in 2020 alone. However, this masks an important statistic which is that mining deaths in China have fallen drastically over the last 20 years where the common death toll for miners was roughly 5,000 a year. That’s not to say Chinese mining is by any means safe with 23 individuals dying from a carbon monoxide leak in the Diaoshuidong municipality in the Hunan province while dismantling mining equipment for the shutdown of the mine. The large drop in deaths can largely be attributed to a decrease in coal production as opposed to workplace safety monitoring with thousands of smaller more dangerous mines being closed over the last couple of decades.  

Aside from the actual rescue of the current miners and the potential rescue of more, the most positive take from this incident has been the speed of the reaction to it. The rescue of the Chilean miners took roughly 69 days with assistance from the Chilean government, the U.S. space agency N.A.S.A. and dozens of international corporations and resulted in 0 casualties. However, nobody was held responsible for the collapse after a 3-year investigation. On the other hand, the incident in Qixia has been managed solely by the Chinese government and has managed to rescue half of the miners within 14 days of the incident. However, there have been casualties with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 11 that will only be known in the next several weeks. In a drastic shift from the Chilean mining the Chinese government has sacked both the mayor, and a local Communist Party secretary over the incident and the owners of the mine have been detained while an investigation is undertaken to determine what caused the explosion that caused the mine collapse. While certainly a far cry from safe mining standards, swift action to rescue the miners as well as holding officials responsible for the incident accountable shows an improving situation.

The next several weeks will determine how drastic the casualty count is and the weeks and months following will show if Chinese mining conditions will improve. However, as of Sunday, 11 miners were rescued from a situation where they would otherwise have perished because of the swift action of the rescuers. Similarly, several individuals have been punished or are being held to see what their punishment may be because of their responsibility for the incident unlike what has happened in so many mining accidents before. The swift reaction of the Chinese government and the tireless efforts of the rescuers is certainly commendable. While this is no way excuses other horrific actions of the Chinese Communist Party it does signal a small step in the right direction. Progress is often incremental and it’s easy to become nihilistic and beaten down by the idea of achieving a goal that seems so far away. However, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Hopefully, this rescue is step on that journey instead of just a anomaly.