At least 23 coal miners remain trapped beneath the surface at the Sizhuang Coal Mine in Yunnan province's city of Qujing due to a gas eruption at around 6:30 a.m on Thursday that killed 20. Local rescue operations are currently underway but are marred by a hazardous gas leak. more ›

The notoriously deadly mining situation in China has finally taken a turn for the better with the recent ongoing rescue of 26 miners in Heilongjiang province. Trapped since the mine flooded on August 23rd, 3 miners were rescued last Saturday, and 19 more were pulled from the mine Tuesday morning - after seven days underground! They managed to stay alive by drinking water drops and with the food and air supplied by a 920-foot pipe drilled down through the rock to assist them. So far all survivors are hospitalized and in good condition, bringing hope for the others. The mine flooding, usually a hopeless death sentence in China, occurred when they accidentally drilled into an adjacent flooded mine. The worst thing about this accident is that the mine involved was operating illegally, after being ordered to shut down back in 2007. more ›

• A fire in a four-story clothing factory in Beijing early this morning killed 17 and injured at least 24 in yet another tragedy caused by illegal construction practices. Those killed were all migrant workers.
• Rescue workers are scrambling to reach eight miners trapped underground after an explosion rocked their facility in Guizhou this morning.
• An explosion in a pesticide plant in Guangxi caused three known injuries. Fires engulfed 3,000 meters and two warehouses. Two harmful chemicals have been confirmed on site, and authorities have cordoned off the factory awaiting further tests.

If a horrific, “unforeseen and natural” disaster happens in China these days, what is the actual betting that it was, in fact, both man-made and foreseeable? Well, unless it’s a direct hit with an asteroid, the answer is: quite high. more ›

• Says James Fallows, even if Google decides to remain in China, they are not "vacillating cowards" - there's a chance for a win-win-win outcome here and the ongoing talks seem like maybe, just maybe it'll actually happen. [The Atlantic]
• Richard Burger agrees, and adds this poignant quote from people who've left China long enough to know how much the government doesn't trust them: "I love my country, but my country doesn't love me." [Peking Duck]
• The U.S. has had multiple meetings with Chinese authorities over internet freedom, which it views as an "universal right that should be available to all people." [Reuters]

And no, unfortunately it's not the Great Firewall. Apparently around 300 feet of the actual great wall,, located in a remote part of Inner Mongolia, has been irreparably damaged by Mongolian gold prospectors. The section, an historical artifact built during the Qin Dynasty between 220BC and 206BC, is more like reinforced earth than the formidable stone structure snaking through Beijing, but historians insist that it still carries the same significance. Hohhot Kekao Mining has been blamed for the destruction and can face a penalty of up to ten years in prison or a fine of 500,000RMB. more ›

As the death toll from a mine explosion this weekend in Heilongjiang rose to 104, relatives of miners killed have begun to protest outside of the mine entrance. Though China's Coal industry has gotten safer (only 1,175 people died in mines in the first half of this year, down nearly twenty percent from last year), the constant reoccurrence of deaths from poor safety conditions is nothing more than a tragic leitmotif. more ›