 China mine workers detained after wages protest: locals Beijing (AFP) March 18, 2016 - Chinese authorities have detained miners who mounted a large demonstration against unpaid wages, residents said Friday, as officials struggle to control labour protests fuelled by slowing economic growth. Police have held more than 30 of the several thousand miners who marched through the northeastern city of Shuangyashan while on strike last weekend, a former mine company worker surnamed Gao told AFP. China has vowed to cut some two million jobs in its coal and steel industries, which suffer from massive overcapacity. Slowing economic growth has also led to more strikes in construction and manufacturing. The ruling Communist party tends to clamp down on all forms of public protest and organised strikes, which it sees as a challenge to its rule. The demonstration which began on Saturday saw large crowds fill the streets, striking miners hold large banners demanding back pay, and police clashing with protesters. Shuangyashan, like many other cities in the province of Heilongjiang, is heavily dependent on the coal industry. Gao said that police detained about 30 people at the weekend, with an unspecified number of further detentions occurring this week. A Shuangyashan mine worker surnamed Chen told AFP on Friday that his colleagues were still owed more than 60 percent of wages due between 2014 and 2015. Workers who organised a strike had been detained, he said, adding: "The miners don't dare protest any more". Both refused to give their full names for fear of reprisals. "I will soon be detained myself," Chen said in a telephone call, to the sound of shouting in the background. Police in Shuangyashan did not answer calls seeking comment from AFP. Authorities in other parts of China have also reportedly clamped down. The city of Langzhong in Sichuan province, in the southwest, held a "public sentencing" for construction workers found guilty of "endangering public officials" during protests over unpaid wages, the state-run Beijing News reported. Eight workers were sentenced to between six and eight months in jail at the ceremony on Wednesday, with pictures showing the suspects paraded on a state in front of a crowd, chaperoned by uniformed police and at least one gun-toting guard.
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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a mask-free jog through Beijing's Tiananmen Square Friday, smiling through thick smog as he sought greater access for his company to China, where its service is banned.
The company's founder was in the capital ahead of an economic forum that gives some of the world's top business and finance leaders the opportunity to hobnob with senior Chinese politicians.
In a picture posted to his Facebook account, Zuckerberg said it was "great to be back in Beijing", adding that he had jogged through Tiananmen and to the Temple of Heaven.
The photo showed him running with a small group past the iconic image of Mao Zedong that hangs on the entrance to the Forbidden City.
Neither Zuckerberg nor anyone in his party wore a mask, despite thick smog in the air.
Levels of PM2.5 -- the smallest, most dangerous particulates -- were above 300 micrograms per cubic metre in Beijing throughout the morning before the photo was posted, according to data from the US Embassy.
At that level -- 12 times the World Health Organisation's recommended maximum -- the US embassy's advice is: "Everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion."
Zuckerberg often posts pictures of his running while travelling, but the photo was greeted with derision by some Chinese Internet users who are not allowed access to his company's service.
Facebook's website has been banned in China for years and is only accessible by using virtual private network (VPN) technology, but it is pushing to get back into the country, even as the Communist leadership tightens censorship controls.
Many Chinese state news organisations and official bodies maintain social media accounts, and Facebook sells advertisements to Chinese clients -- both companies and local governments -- targeting customers abroad.
- Local law -
Zuckerberg been criticised both in China and abroad for his apparently deferential treatment of the country's leaders.
In 2014, he hosted China's top Internet regulator Lu Wei at his Silicon Valley office, telling the man in charge of cracking down on online expression that he was studying the speeches of President Xi Jinping and had purchased copies of a book collecting them for several of his colleagues.
He has also been studying Chinese and delivered a speech in passable Mandarin during a 2015 appearance at Tsinghua University.
Many Chinese users saw Friday's Facebook posting as tone-deaf.
"He's the world's most expensive vacuum cleaner", said one user on China micro-blogging site Weibo.
Facebook users, too, were not convinced by the wisdom of the excursion.
Many comments pointed out the brutal government crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the square in 1989, some contrasting Zuckerberg with the renowned Tank Man image of a single individual facing down a column of armoured vehicles.
"The floor you stepped (on) has been covered by blood from students who fought for democracy," read one. "But, enjoy your running in China, Mark."
A tongue-in-cheek comment from a Chinese expatriate in Australia said: "You have a total number of 6 people in the running team. Did you apply for the authorisation to run on the street? If not, this is illegal in China."
She added: "Please respect the local law when you are in a foreign country."
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