In a country where mining tragedies are common, there was jubilation on October 13 at a rescue operation that lifted 33 miners to safety after a lengthy ordeal in Chile. And there was a sense that China was not just sympathetic but had contributed something.
The Chinese state-run news media reported earlier in the week that the rescue effort was being aided by parts from a Chinese-made crane, the SCC4000 crawler. According to the Chinese media, the parts were manufactured by the Shanghai Sany Group.
But even before those details were known, the rescue operation had received widespread news coverage in the Chinese media and was lauded as heroic and courageous.
So when the crane went into operation early on October 13 Beijing time, the official Xinhua News Agency released photo after photo of the rescue efforts. News headlines about the operation were sent to mobile phones and posted on Chinese websites. And Chinese netizens commented on what they called a “heart-warming” story.
Guan Yanping, a poet and blogger, wrote: “That Chilean mine accident, as a matter of fact, has nothing to do with me. But because I'm reading about their news every day, I now feel as if my family were also trapped underground.”
Xinhua called the rescue “a miracle” and People's Daily , the Communist Party newspaper, boasted “a heavy crane employed on the scene was made in China.”
China knows the dangers of mining. Every year, more than 1,500 workers die in mining accidents here, among the highest fatality rates in the world.
China is heavily dependent on coal for energy production and so most mining fatalities occur in coal mines.
Similar rescue in China
Last April, the Chinese media broadcast its own dramatic rescue effort after about 140 men were believed killed when a coal mine in north China was flooded with millions of gallons of water. A week later, a rescue team lifted about 115 men to safety. The rescue effort made for great television and propaganda for the state.
Many other efforts in China end tragically, and occasionally the government is accused of delaying announcement of mining accidents, censoring the news or failing to punish the regulators overseeing the mines.
Guan, the poet and blogger, wrote a few lines of verse about Chile's rescue on the Web, ending:
“What the government of Chile did warms our hearts. They didn't suppress the truth, They didn't secretly pay anyone money, They don't make irresponsible statements, They don't forgive those who should be responsible for it; And they don't laud themselves with cliches.” — © New York Times News Service
