Illegal mines breed fake scribes

Many unemployed youths in Xinzhou, Shanxi province, make a living by posing as journalists. They visit illegal coal mines and threaten their owners or managers with "exposure" unless they grease their palms.

Since the mines are illegal and do not have even the basic safety level, their owners are afraid of being jailed if exposed and usually pay the fake journalists money to keep their mouth shut.

The illegal coal mines are the main reason why fake journalists have mushroomed in Xinzhou villages. Had the mines been operating legally with good working conditions, their owners would not have been afraid of even real journalists, let alone fake ones. The illegal mines should be closed or upgraded to ensure safe working conditions for the miners and rooting out sham journalists. Another factor that has created fake journalists is the negligence of the local authorities: They often turn a blind eye to the illegal coal mines and crack down on them only when a major mine accident takes place. This, too, has to stop to ensure safe and healthy working conditions in mines and eliminate the menace of fake journalists.

Lin A via e-mail

US aim must be jobs, not wars

Comment on "Victorious Obama must rethink the yuan" (March 23, China Daily).

If you believe that American presidents really "work hard to create jobs" and need your angelic suggestions, you better think how many jobs the US could create just by stopping to wage the wars on the pretext of the defense of Americans and invest those huge amounts given to the US military to create jobs both low-end and hi-tech. These jobs can help the poor Americans, who are not a negligible percentage of the US population.

Don't forget that the US multinationals have relocated their manufacturing businesses in China not mainly for "cheap labor" (why not in Vietnam, why not in India?), but for the overall quality of Chinese laborers and China's overall productive infrastructure and stable social environment. The last and best "comparative advantage" the US can have is to become a bigger helper and promoter of China's development.

Alias David Ricardo on China Daily website

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(China Daily 03/26/2010 page9)