US sends destroyer in China Sea

The US Navy has dispatched a guided-missile destroyer to the China Sea after a tense naval standoff between two countries, an official says. "Right now they are going to escort these types of ships for the foreseeable future," a US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Thursday. The escorts by warships applied to operations in the South China Sea, the official said. The armed destroyers will escort US surveillance ships operating in the sea following a tense naval standoff this week, sources said. Earlier, Pentagon said that five Chinese ships harassed and maneuvered dangerously close to the unarmed USNS Impeccable as the ocean surveillance vessel was in waters some 75 miles south of the Chinese island of Hainan. China has a key submarine base on Hainan island, 75 miles north of where Sunday's incident occurred. The US claimed the incident took place in international waters after several days of increasingly aggressive acts by Chinese ships in the region. However, Chinese sources said that the concerned US navy vessel had been consistently conducting illegal surveying in China's special economic zone. The arrival of the destroyer underscores the Pentagon's determination to continue with the surveillance mission in spite of Beijing's claims that it represents an illegal military activity. It also signaled heightened US-China tensions on a day when President Barack Obama met with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the White House. Obama stressed "the importance of raising the level and frequency of the US-China military-to-military dialogue in order to avoid future incidents," according to a White House statement on Thursday. The US and China have remained at odds over a number of issues ranging from Tibet, human rights, space and nuclear technology.

China mine blast toll rises to 74‎

The death toll from a mine accident in southern China rises to 74, while seven of the 114 rescued miners are reported to be in a critical condition. 

The official Xinhua news agency said 436 miners were working underground on Sunday when a gas blast went off at a coalmine near the provincial capital of Shanxi province, Taiyuan. 

The agency had earlier said 90 workers had been trapped underground, adding that rescue workers were hopeful as some had managed to contact family members on their mobile phones. 

Most of the workers had escaped unharmed but 114 were hospitalized and seven remained in a critical condition. 

China has a poor mining record with companies flouting safety regulations. In 2008 alone, nearly 3,000 people died in mining accidents. 

The country is however, stepping up its standards and has overseen the closure of many small mines with safety hazards. A report in late January said the fatalities had dropped 15% in 2008 from the previous year. 

Despite a government's drive to close thousands of small and unsafe mines, China's mining industry remains the world's deadliest.