Some of China's lawmakers debating a criminal code amendment want much tougher penalties for people found responsible for industrial accidents than the draft amendment calls for.

The draft of the Sixth Amendment to Criminal Code, which is getting its second reading at the ongoing 21 session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), calls for sentences of up to ten years for those convicted of causing fatal industrial accidents. "Considering the country's current rampant industrial accidents, the penalty is still moderate. Leniency is leading to a lax attitude in work safety," said Wang Tao, member of the NPC Standing Committee.

He suggests people who seek profits at the cost of a worker's life should face life imprisonment.

Wang Maolin, member of the NPC Standing Committee said some local governments have repeatedly ordered unsafe coal mines to close but those orders are often ignored.

"Under such circumstances, we must punish coal mine owners through legal means," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2006)