State media said that China's vast northern region of Inner Mongolia began a month-long overhaul of its lucrative coal mining industry to ease public anger over the death of a herder who was struck by a coal truck.
Inner Mongolia has seen scattered protests over the past week or so by ethnic Mongolians, sparked by the death of the herder, but which have morphed into broader demands for protection of their culture.
The government, ever worried by threats to stability, is now trying to address some of the protesters' broader concerns about the damage caused by coal mining to traditional grazing lands of the Mongolian people in China.
The official Xinhua news agency, in an English-language report said that the death of the herder had "led to heightened concerns over industry practices in the resource-rich region's mining sector".
It said that "The regional coal mine industry bureau ordered local work safety watchdogs to strengthen supervision of the coal mines to ensure safe production practices, protection of the environment and attention to the welfare of local residents.”
Ethnic Mongolians, who make up less than 20 percent of the roughly 24 million population of Inner Mongolia, have complained that their traditional grazing lands have been ruined by mining and desertification, and that the government has tried to force them to settle in permanent houses.
Inner Mongolia, which covers more than a tenth of China's land mass, is supposed to offer a high degree of self-rule, but Mongolians say the Han Chinese majority run the show and have been the main beneficiaries of economic development. (sourced from Thomson Reuters)
Inner Mongolia has seen scattered protests over the past week or so by ethnic Mongolians, sparked by the death of the herder, but which have morphed into broader demands for protection of their culture.
The government, ever worried by threats to stability, is now trying to address some of the protesters' broader concerns about the damage caused by coal mining to traditional grazing lands of the Mongolian people in China.
The official Xinhua news agency, in an English-language report said that the death of the herder had "led to heightened concerns over industry practices in the resource-rich region's mining sector".
It said that "The regional coal mine industry bureau ordered local work safety watchdogs to strengthen supervision of the coal mines to ensure safe production practices, protection of the environment and attention to the welfare of local residents.”
Ethnic Mongolians, who make up less than 20 percent of the roughly 24 million population of Inner Mongolia, have complained that their traditional grazing lands have been ruined by mining and desertification, and that the government has tried to force them to settle in permanent houses.
Inner Mongolia, which covers more than a tenth of China's land mass, is supposed to offer a high degree of self-rule, but Mongolians say the Han Chinese majority run the show and have been the main beneficiaries of economic development. (sourced from Thomson Reuters)
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