Summary

     This article is about the May 22, 2026 Liushenyu coal mine disaster in Shanxi, China. The beginning of the article discussed mine’s background information, including that it is a high-methane coal mine, the 82 deaths and 120 injuries, and the Tongzhou Company. Further details about the Tongzhou Company reveal its many controversies, including safety violations, many unregistered workers, secret tunnels, inaccurate blueprints, and many workers not carrying safety tracking devices (Koh Ewe, 2026).” This company had also been repeatedly penalized for safety violations since 2024, when the mine was deemed “unsafe” by the Chinese National Mine Safety Administration of coal mines.

     The article then discussed the Chinese coal mining industry. This includes a 90% drop in workplace fatalities since the 1990s, the industry becoming irreplaceable to China’s industrial ambitions in the 1980s, and industry dangers. Some of the dangers highlighted by Ewe were that this industry has contributed to the “GDP stained with blood” and bribery of local government officials to ignore unsafe work practices and increase mining revenue.

     The final section of the article discussed China’s strive towards green energy, despite the continuous reliance on heavy carbon energy sources. They plan to achieve this goal by doubling the clean energy supply by 2035, and net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. The article was then completed with Ewe stating that instead of getting rid of coal, China will be using it as a reserve in case situations arise that would make green energy inaccessible.