Yesterday, while looking at satellite images of Zambia, I saw an exposed mine, and then I searched and found many shocking incidents, especially news about wastewater leaks in Zambia.
On February 18, 2025, a collapse occurred at the acid tailings dam of the Sino-Metals mine operated by China Minmetals Zambia, causing acid liquid to leak, with about 50 million liters of waste containing concentrated acid, dissolved solids, and heavy metals flowing into Zambia’s most important waterway, the Kafue River.
“Before February 18, this river was vibrant,” said Shawn Conilius, who lives near the Kafue River. “The fish died, and the nearby birds almost disappeared immediately. Now everything is dead, like a completely dead river. Unbelievable. Overnight, this river died.” https://youtube.com/watch?v=mOfPUXrCAas&si=SQVQH0WMuf_Mfwlz
Meanwhile, Chinese capitalists and local governments are using priest-like deception tactics. The Zambian government dispatched the air force and speedboats to dump hundreds of tons of lime into the river to neutralize the acid, but acid is only one of the toxic wastes; the cleanup of heavy metals and other hazardous waste remains unresolved. Zhang Peiwen, chairman of China Minmetals Zambia, met with government ministers, offered to cover the costs of cleanup, and apologized for the acid spill incident. “This disaster has sounded the alarm for China Minmetals and the mining industry,” he said. He stated that the company would “do its utmost to restore the affected environment as soon as possible.”
However, despite the lofty words of capitalists, in reality, only local workers are affected by environmental pollution. Even if pollution is severe, capitalists still have access to clean water and pure air.
A few days after the Sino-Metals incident, another Chinese-funded mine in Zambia’s copper mining area also experienced an acid waste leak. A miner died after falling into the acid, and profit-driven capitalists attempted to hide the incident, even continuing operations after authorities demanded they cease.
Another Chinese company was accused of discharging chemical waste, causing crop reductions and waterborne diseases. Zambia: Foreign copper mining companies accused of dumping toxic waste into key Kafue River, causing environmental disasters; civil society calls for increased oversight and corporate accountability - Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
These crimes inevitably remind people of Japan’s Minamata disease. Even today, victims of Minamata still find it difficult to receive compensation. For people in colonial countries fighting against comprador governments and Chinese imperialist invaders, victory can only be achieved through violent resistance.
Ironically, just last year, China Minmetals was still promoting the Kafue River water supply project—“cooperating with Chinese enterprises to benefit the Zambian people”—but this project was merely a beautification of Chinese imperialist invasion. In fact, the project was financed by a $150 million loan from the China Export-Import Bank and constructed by China Civil Engineering Group, representing Chinese imperialist capital and commodity export to Zambia, ultimately forcing the Zambian working people to pay the price. 卡富埃河供水项目缓解赞比亚首都地区用水紧张问题 “与中企合作惠及赞比亚民众”（新时代中非合作）|赞比亚_新浪财经_新浪网 赞比亚首都民众喝上放心水
The following is a summary by ChatGPT of recent environmental destruction incidents caused by Chinese mining companies in Africa: Zambia: Acid wastewater leaks causing river pollution Congo (Kinshasa): Illegal gold mining damaging UNESCO World Heritage sites Zimbabwe: Residents protesting environmental destruction by Chinese-funded mines Guinea: Protests and conflicts caused by Chinese mining companies leading to deaths Cameroon: Chinese mining companies accused of murder and environmental pollution
Wherever Chinese construction goes, new public nuisances arise. Previously, the construction process of the Port of Callao in Peru also caused significant environmental damage, leading to protests from local residents and fishermen on a small scale. Public nuisances are essentially a prominent manifestation of the contradiction between the private ownership of production materials under capitalism and the socialization of production. The bourgeoisie, in order to accumulate capital more quickly for themselves, save on the cost of waste treatment, and thus directly discharge pollutants, creating public nuisances that cause great harm to others’ health and even disrupt the reproduction of other enterprises and small producers. This situation is most evident in colonies. Because the colonial powers oppress the colonies, the public nuisances directly harm the interests of the local national bourgeoisie, petty bourgeoisie, and proletariat, the latter of whom suffer dual oppression from the colonial powers and comprador class, making resistance difficult. Moreover, the colonizers themselves live in their own countries and are completely unaffected. Therefore, they are even more unscrupulous.
Recently, Bolivia exported 25 tons of chia seeds to China for the first time. Its president, Arce, stated that there is “no limit” to exports to China, saying that China is a huge market that every country wants to enter. He even questioned how countries like Argentina and Paraguay would not want to enter the Chinese market, truly exposing the ugly comprador mentality. He also described this tribute to the imperialist master and the deepening colonization of his own country as something that can attract more investment and create jobs for local people.
Later, Bolivian producers planned to export at least 50,000 tons of chia seeds to China annually, with the chia seed planting area expected to reach 50,000 hectares in winter. Previously, in 2024, the Bolivian ambassador to China stated that the total chia seed planting area in Bolivia was 22,635 hectares, with a production of 11,544 tons.
It is evident that the claim of “becoming the world’s leading chia seed exporter” is nothing but the reality of Bolivia being frantically plundered of agricultural products by imperialist China, and the result of Bolivia’s comprador class causing agricultural monoculture to satisfy imperialist China.
However, the price of chia seeds, about 40 yuan per jin, is not something the proletariat can afford to buy. Chia seeds are mainly popular in fitness and weight loss circles, showing that China’s ability to import such large quantities of chia seeds is closely related to these decadent bourgeoisie lifestyles.
Yesterday, I saw the news and found that Rwanda is also enforcing mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. Many people fled to neighboring countries like Burundi and were sent back. One man from Muhanga District in southern Rwanda said he was handcuffed to receive the injection and was surrounded by five police officers and six civilians, subjected to violence, and even suffocated. When Deutsche Welle contacted the Rwandan government, the authorities did not issue a statement, and local bureaucrats claimed, “I don’t know of any cases of mandatory vaccination in my area.” When an elderly person refused to be vaccinated, the vaccination staff said it was for his protection and continued, “But if you don’t accept it, reports about your behavior won’t be good.” Later, this elderly man was even forced to get vaccinated under the threat of uniformed personnel.
Zijin Mining, a major monopoly in the mining industry, does not prioritize hiring union members when employing workers in Guyana, and some employees who have joined unions have been blacklisted; local workers are also treated differently, suffering from overwork and arbitrary punishments. Zijin Mining even deducted employees’ social security (NIS) contributions but did not remit this money to the national insurance bureau. Local workers have also experienced food poisoning issues (all fresh foods, from fruits to meats, are sent to the Chinese kitchen along with utensils and napkins, while Guyanese workers can only eat chopped chicken scraps, such as chicken skin, with little or no vegetables). The president of the Guyanese National Miners’ Union stated, “It seems that the Chinese are running a business like a prison. There are almost daily abusive language towards employees, poor food, and sleeping conditions.” However, Guyana’s Minister of Labour shamelessly claimed that he had not received any formal complaints and said during a visit to the mine that no workers raised issues, deliberately ignoring the fact that workers are afraid of punishment, persecution, or dismissal if they complain. Workers also stated that the minister “said a lot during the visit, but none of these words have been fulfilled so far,” fully exposing Zijin Mining’s collusion with comprador bureaucrats in Guyana.
Zambia: Acid wastewater leaks causing river pollution
Congo (Kinshasa): Illegal gold mining damaging UNESCO World Heritage sites
Zimbabwe: Residents protesting environmental destruction by Chinese-funded mines
Guinea: Protests and conflicts caused by Chinese mining companies leading to deaths
Cameroon: Chinese mining companies accused of murder and environmental pollution
