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Death toll rises to 41 in Sichuan colliery blast Rescuers are ready to go down the shaft at Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in Panzhihua City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, yesterday. Death toll has risen to 41 in Wednesday's colliery blast at the coal mine in Sichuan Province as more bodies were retrieved. Five others remained trapped, officials said yesterday. Plane speaking from world leaders Premier Wen Jiabao and German Chancellor Angela Merkel talk aboard an A320 jet in Tianjin yesterday. The two world leaders attended a ceremony to mark the 100th plane from Airbus's assembly plant in the north China port city at the end of Merkel's two-day visit to China. US study feeds kids GM rice A US-BACKED study which used Chinese children as guinea pigs to try out a new type of genetically modified rice has been condemned by an environmental rights group. The study was carried out in healthy schoolchildren between six and eight years old in Hengyang City in centr...

  Rescuers carry a rescued miner to an ambulance at the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in Panzhihua city, Sichuan province, in the early hours of Thursday morning, after an explosion hit the mine on Wednesday evening. [Photo/Xinhua]   Thirty-seven miners have been confirmed dead and ten others were still trapped after Wednesday's gas explosion in a coal mine in the southwestern province of Sichuan, rescuers said on Friday. Search for missing miners continues Rescue work continued on Thursday evening in the gas-filled pit where 21 miners were still trapped after Wednesday's gas explosion in a Sichuan province coal mine. Twenty-six people have been confirmed dead after an explosion hit the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in the city of Panzhihua around 5 pm on Wednesday, the rescue headquarters said on Thursday. Temperatures soared and carbon monoxide was dense in the zone where the 21 miners were trapped. Only some mask-wearing rescuers have been able to enter, authorities said. ...

31 August 2012 Last updated at 13:15 ET A sleeper bus collided with a methane-laden tanker on Sunday Chinese officials have launched an investigation into a safety official after images showed him grinning at the scene of a fatal road crash. The pictures of Yang Dacai sparked an outcry among web users. Mr Yang, who attended the scene of the bus crash that killed 36 people in Shaanxi on Sunday, defended himself on his microblog, saying he was just trying to cheer people up. Shaanxi disciplinary officials said they would punish any violations. 'Legal income' As outrage grew about Mr Yang, web users began to investigate more closely. They found pictures of him wearing a series of wrist watches that an expert told the China Daily newspaper were worth more than $ 40,000 (£25,000) in total. Web users demanded an investigation into his behaviour. In an unprecedented move, Mr Yang, of Shaanxi's Provincial Bureau of Work Safety, fielded questions from ...

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31 August 2012 Last updated at 00:13 ET Wang Xiaoning was freed from a Beijing jail early Friday morning A Chinese dissident convicted of subversion charges with the help of evidence provided by US internet giant Yahoo has been released from jail. Wang Xiaoning was freed early on Friday morning, his wife, Yu Ling, told the BBC by telephone. Mr Wang, who was detained in 2002, served his 10-year sentence in a Beijing jail. Yahoo drew widespread criticism for providing information linking him to emails and political writings. Ms Yu said her husband was in "good health and fine spirits" but was not allowed to give media interviews under the conditions of his release. She could not comment on his experience in prison, she added. Mr Wang, a former engineer, was prosecuted after posting pro-democracy statements online calling for an end to one-party Communist rule. He was jailed for "incitement to subvert state power". The case raised questions ...

Chi Yin Sim is a photographer based in Beijing. A fourth-generation overseas Chinese, Sim grew up in Singapore. Her photographs explore beneath the streets of Beijing, where China's low-income workers squash into tiny living spaces. Xie Ruanjun, 26, waitress   Zhang Hao, 26, an electrician, and his wife Xiang Qigui, 23, a beautician      Liu Jing, 21, pedicurist   Zhou Limei, 30, with her baby – her family runs a basement   Xiao Si, 23, hairstylist     Chen Yiwen, 21 (left), and her friend Ji Jia, 20 (right), both salesgirls in clothing stores   Zhao Dan, beautician       You might also like： Migrant Workers in China Face Competition from Robots Middle income group gr...

Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese dissident who was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has been hailed as a champion of human rights and democracy. His jailing by Chinese authorities for inciting subversion of the state is widely regarded as an unjust stifling of advocacy rights by a Chinese state intolerant of dissent and hostile to "universal values". But what Western accounts have failed to mention is that Charter 08, the manifesto Liu had a hand in writing and whose signing led to his arrest, is more than a demand for political and civil liberties. It is a blueprint for making over China into a replica of US society and eliminating the last vestiges of the country's socialism. If Liu had his druthers, China would: become a free market, free enterprise paradise; welcome domination by foreign banks; hold taxes to a minimum; and allow the Chinese version of the Democrats and Republicans to keep the country safe for corporations, bankers and wealthy investors. Liu's pr...