China has taken on a series of comprehensive institutional measures to improve the safety of its coal mining industry and workers. Official figures indicate similar reductions to both accidents and fatalities, from which a “new safety narrative” has emerged in official discourses. However, this view neglects the fact that many accidents are concealed or underreported in China's mining sector. This study critically examines China's safety measures with a novel dataset of 180 mining accident coverup cases derived from official, judicial, and media sources. The study's findings support three observations: (i) despite the imposition of stricter regulations and the closure of many informal and small-scale mines, accident coverups have continued at both legal and large-scale mines; (ii) despite increased monitoring including the implementation of a fatality indicator system, accident reporting is consistently manipulated by mine owners, local authorities, and even victims’ families; and (iii) although new stiffer penalties specifically sanction accident coverups, they are rarely imposed. Our results cast doubt on the conceived success of China's new safety narrative and demonstrate how industrial safety measures are deliberately and structurally compromised.@en

Land titling programs are introduced to create a stable and secure institutional environment that effectively resolves land conflicts. However, the process of land registration may also exacerbate latent conflicts or trigger new contestation, causing the opposite of what was intended – a largely conflict-ridden and non-credible tenure arrangement. To understand this apparent contradiction in more detail, this study combines theoretical advances on institutional credibility and conflict manifestation. We employ our approach in China's forest sector, and explore how recent titling experiences affected manifest (visible) and latent (imperceptible) conflicts, represented by a judicial and empirical dataset, respectively. The judicial dataset of court adjudications shows that the majority of manifest conflicts only started after the titling process had been completed, and that nearly half of disputed titles were revoked in court. A household survey in southwest China indicates that latent tenure conflicts were largely unaffected and unresolved by titling. Both analyses suggest that in many instances, the new titles were no remedy or direct driver to tenure disputes but instead have evolved as new indirect drivers to conflict in China's already ambiguous tenure arrangement.

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The mining governance in China features a dilemma: on the one hand, there are various issues inherent in China’s mining institutions: 1) an outdated nature of the current legislation, 2) ambiguity in the regulations, and 3) administrative fragmentation of responsible authorities. On the other hand, China has witnessed a fast growing mining industry. Therefore, this study aims to explain this phenomenon by adopting the theories and conceptual framework on institutional function and credibility put forward by Ho (2005, 2014, 2016a). The central question is as follows: How do China’s mining institutions affect the local communities, and to what extent do the rural residents perceive these as credible?@en

Mining causes severe adverse effects such as pollution and forced resettlement. Accordingly, it has prompted conflicts that are also evident in China. Our study assesses whether and how rural residents' engage in environmental activism (EA) against mining. This is achieved by constructing a model of EA strategies, coupled to variables that examine respondents' intentions. The model uses data from a survey (n = 352) covering 37 villages spread over 5 provinces and 1 provincial-level municipality. The model is based on a refinement of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Various findings are reported: (1) a majority of respondents (77%) believes that pollution in the mining areas is serious; (2) there is pessimism about the effects of EA with 41% believing it does not improve the environment, and less than one-fifth feeling the government supports EA, contradictorily; (3) well over half has engaged in one or more forms of EA, while (4) dominant EA strategies consist of complaining to local government or village authorities (both over 40%), or open protest (opted for by over 17%); (5) economic dependency and gender affect the intention for EA, as those employed in mining and women are less inclined to participate. Whereas studies pointed to "inclined abstainers" or the "silent majority", this study ascertains that-with regard to mining-rural residents are not silent. We posit that a threshold of environmental endurance might have been reached. In this context, policymakers need to tackle the adverse effects of mining, as it is likely to generate more violent confrontations that ultimately pose risks to political credibility and social stability.

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Underground mining in China has incited severe land subsidence causing the forced eviction of millions of farmers. Here we report on one of the earliest Chinese studies on Mining-Induced Displacement and Resettlement (MIDR), based on a farm household survey (n = 230) and semi-structured interviews (n = 29) in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu, Chongqing and Hunan. It was found that displaced farmers were overall insufficiently compensated for mining-induced damage. Respondents expressed concerns over higher living costs in the relocation villages, and were ill-informed about resettlement schemes. We also found widespread conflict between farmers, mining companies and local government, this being the case in over two-thirds of the surveyed villages. Through additional institutional analysis it is ascertained that existing policies and laws predominantly focus on surface rather than underground mining. Compensation is rarely provided unless damage to land and housing has grown to unmanageable proportions. In result, displacement and resettlement is generally chosen as a sole, yet, final solution. The study includes cases on coal, lead, zinc and manganese. Based on the analysis, we call for a revision of mining policies and the establishment of state-supported compensation schemes in order to minimize conflict and farmers’ socio-economic vulnerability.@en