Is decreasing the salaries of leaders at Central Government Owned SOE’s and putting a black mark on their annual career review a sufficient response to huge disasters at coalmines, chemical plants, and construction sites and other dangerous industries? A recent editorial in the China Youth Daily doesn’t think so. 

The editorial points out that the measure approved by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council approved on 16 September isn’t even as strict as the criminal and administrative penalties outlined in the Production Safety Law and the Criminal Law. It also wonders how the term “big” in “very big incidents (tebie zhongda shigu) ” is defined. 

Stemming the tide of disasters in coalmines and in other hazardous industries continues to be an outstanding problem that requires honest analysis and debate. At the very least, these sorts of critical editorials are a good start.