The Guardian 14 September, 2005
Global briefs
TONGA: Thousands of public workers continued their strike last week, after rejecting a proposal by Princess Regent Pilolevu to grant them salary increases of 60 percent to 80 percent, but only on a temporary basis while negotiations continued, and only to strikers who returned to work on September 1 and workers who had remained on the job. The workers, on strike since late July, are also demanding political reforms. Tonga is one of the world’s last feudal monarchies. Strike leader Finau Tutone said the workers had not initially wanted to seek a political solution, but had been forced to demand a cabinet of elected representatives instead of royal appointees. The government "did not show any respect to us so we had to fall back to the political situation", Tutone said. "There is a need for political renovation in order for the government in the future to listen to the people."
ARGENTINA: A new museum in Buenos Aires illustrates the severe consequences of the country’s foreign debt. Among the many multi-media displays is a "black hole" representing the country’s foreign debt. The hole sucks in signs with words like "education" and "dignity." Visitors can understand the decline of the country’s industry by counting a diminishing number of bolts, while growing mounds of beans show the increase in foreign imports. Steadily increasing unemployment is illustrated with figurines of San Cayetano, the patron saint of work. The economics faculty at the University of Buenos Aires developed the idea for the museum, to help citizens become more aware of the reasons for the debt and its consequences in their lives. Under IMF and World Bank pressure, Argentina declared a nearly $130 billion debt default in 2001. People lost jobs and savings, millions demonstrated, and the presidency changed hands four times in 10 days.
CHINA: The State Administration of Coal Mine Safety has made public a list of 1324 coal mines it is ordering to stop production and meet national safety standards, and said the total would rise to 7000 by the end of the year. China’s 24,000 coal mines supply about 70 percent of the country’s energy needs, but the effect on coal supply was expected to be minor, because most of the mines involved are small. In the first half of 2005, some 2700 miners died in accidents in China. A government spokesperson said provincial and local governments would be required to take responsibility for coal mine safety, with severe sanctions for failure. The China Daily said some local governments and officials had been protecting poorly equipped mines, and the national government had ordered local officials and leaders of state-owned enterprises to get rid of their shares in mines.