Coal mine explosion in China kills 90 people

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A gas explosion at a coal mine in China’s northern Shanxi province killed at least 90 people, state media said on Saturday, in the country’s deadliest mining accident in recent years. Official news agency Xinhua said the accident at Changzhi city’s Liushenyu coal mine happened on Friday evening. Around 247 workers were on duty at the time. Nine miners were still unaccounted for as of Saturday afternoon, Xinhua said, and more than 120 people were hospitalized. The cause of the explosion was under investigation, Xinhua reported, and rescue work is pressing on with hundreds of rescuers and medical personnel sent to the site. Among the injured, many were hurt by toxic gas, according to state media CCTV. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an all-out effort to rescue the missing, reported Xinhua. Xi also called for the “proper handling of the aftermath of the accident and urged a thorough investigation into its cause, with accountability pursued in accordance wi...
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China ‘clearly’ trying to interfere in Taiwan’s democracy, Taipei says before recall vote

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China is “clearly” trying to interfere in Taiwan’s democracy and it is up to Taiwan’s people to decide who should be removed from or stay in office, the island’s government said on Wednesday ahead of a recall vote for around one-fifth of lawmakers.

On Saturday, Taiwan voters will decide on the fate of 24 lawmakers from Taiwan’s largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), in a recall campaign started by civic groups who accuse the lawmakers of cozying up to Beijing, which views the island as its own territory.

The KMT denies being pro-Beijing, but says it needs to keep lines of communication with China open, and has denounced the recalls as a “malicious” attack on democracy that does not respect the results of last year’s parliamentary election.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office and Chinese state media have repeatedly commented on the recall vote and used some of the same talking points as the Kuomintang, Reuters reported this week.

In a post on Facebook citing the Reuters report and research by Taiwan’s IORG, which analyses Chinese state media reports, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said it “rejects the Chinese Communist Party’s intervention”.

“The Chinese Communist Party’s attempt to interfere with Taiwan’s democratic operation is evident and clear,” it said.

“Recall in Taiwan is a civil right guaranteed by the constitution, and it is up to the people of Taiwan to decide who should or should not be removed from office.”

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment. It has also not responded to questions submitted last week by Reuters about the recall and whether China was seeking to interfere in the outcome.

The recall campaign has been happening against a backdrop of China ramping up its own military and diplomatic pressure campaign against Taiwan to assert territorial claims that Taiwan resolutely rejects.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/uLcOXvA

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