Article,
China's response to quake is unusually open
International Herald Tribune, (May 2008-05-13)
Abstract
BEIJING: Mothers wailing over the bodies of their children. Emergency
workers scrambling across pancaked buildings. A grim-faced political
leader comforting the stricken and reassuring a worried nation.
While such scenes are a staple of disasters in much of the world,
the rescue effort playing nonstop on Chinese television is remarkable
for a country that has a history of concealing the scope of natural
disasters and then bungling its responses.
The earthquake that flattened a swath of rural Sichuan Province on
Monday killed more than 12,000 people, and thousands more are buried
beneath rubble.
The government in Beijing has mounted an aggressive rescue effort,
dispatching tens of thousands of troops from across the country and
promptly sending Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to the disaster zone,
accompanied by reporters. With a hardhat on his head and a bullhorn
in his hand, he ducked into the wreckage of a hospital where scores
of people were buried and shouted: "Hang on a bit longer. The troops
are rescuing you." Throughout the day, the images of Wen directing
disaster relief officials and comforting the injured dominated the
airwaves.
With images of the calamitous cyclone in Myanmar still fresh - and
the authoritarian government's languid response earning it international
scorn - Wen and his fellow Communist Party leaders are keenly aware
that their approach to this earthquake will be closely watched at
home and abroad. And after two bruising months of criticism from
the West over its handling of unrest in Tibet, the government can
ill afford another round of criticism as it prepares for the Olympic
games in August.
Multimedia
Photographs
Devastating earthquake
» ViewInteractive Map: The damage
» ViewVideo: Massive quake in China
» ViewRaw video: The moment of impact
» ViewAudio: Back story with Jim Yardley (mp3)
» ListenVideo: The week ahead
» View
Related Articles
Death toll from China earthquake nears 12,000Minute of silence scheduled
for path of Olympic torchChina quake disaster set off by colliding
land masses
Today in Asia - Pacific
China's response to quake is unusually openMyanmar aid trickles in,
but generals uphold restrictionsIndia's success isn't shared by most
Although it is still too early to know for sure, those who follow
China's zigzag between reform and authoritarianism say the past few
months are beginning to resemble a defining moment in what is shaping
up to be a watershed year. Its harsh response against discontented
Tibetans bore the hallmarks of Beijing's hard-line impulses. But
its decision Tuesday to downscale the torch relay's route through
quake-battered Sichuan - a reaction to the flood of Internet protests
calling the original plan insensitive - was a sign that officials
are not deaf to public sentiment.
Shi Anbin, a professor of media studies at Tsinghua University in
Beijing, said he thought the international uproar after the crackdown
in Tibet was having an impact on the country's Communist Party.
"My judgment is that the government has drawn some lessons from negative
feedback," he said. "I think it reflects a trend of Chinese openness
and reform."
So far, the tactic appears to be paying off. Commentary on Chinese
Web sites and chat rooms has been full of praise for the government's
emergency response. On Tianya, a popular forum where anti-government
postings often find a home, users have been quick to shout down those
who criticized Wen and the military's delay in reaching some quake
victims.
"Those who can only do mouth work, please shut up at this key moment,"
said one posting. Another writer praised the People's Liberation
Army, saying "Whenever there's a life-or-death crisis, they're the
ones on the frontline. We certainly can overcome this catastrophe
because we have them."
Dali Yang, the director of the East Asian Institute in Singapore,
said he thought the government might have come to the realization
that openness and accountability can bolster its legitimacy and counter
growing anger over corruption, rising inflation and the disparity
between the urban rich and the rural poor.
"I think their response to this disaster shows they can act and they
can care," he said. "They seem to be aware that a disaster like this
can pull the country together and bring them support."
Their response since Monday stands in stark contrast to efforts during
China's last major earthquake, in 1976, when 240,000 people perished
in the eastern city of Tangshan. The lessons from that disaster have
undoubtedly been imprinted on the minds of the men who govern from
Beijing. In the days that followed the quake, the ruling Gang of
Four downplayed the disaster and rebuffed offers of help from the
outside world, leaving rescue efforts to poorly equipped soldiers.
Hua Guofeng, the chosen successor of Mao Zedong who was then out of
favor, visited Tangshan a few days after the quake. That act of goodwill
bolstered his power and enabled him to arrest the Gang of Four, effectively
ending the chaotic decade of the Cultural Revolution and ushering
in leaders who introduced the economic reforms that continue to transform
China.
But the Communist Party appeared to have forgotten the lessons of
Tangshan in recent years. Repeated flooding on the Yangtze River
- partly caused by government inaction - has killed thousands. The
SARS epidemic of 2003, which officials sought to cover up, brought
accusations that the party was unconcerned with the commonweal.
Last winter, Wen found himself facing thousands of angry travelers
who were stranded by a snowstorm that crippled the nation's railroad
system during the annual Lunar New Year holiday. And last month,
the derailment of two passenger trains in Shandong Province killed
72 people, injured 400 and laid bare the failure of transportation
officials to communicate a go-slow order on a stretch of track that
was under construction.
In contrast to that disaster - information was tightly controlled
and foreign reporters were kept at bay - coverage of the Sichuan
earthquake has been unfettered. Scores of Chinese reporters have
been providing live broadcasts from across the quake zone and, so
far at least, foreign correspondents have been given unrestricted
access.
Just hours after the quake, Wen was on a plane, broadcasting his pledge
to spare no effort in saving lives. Throughout the day, official
news outlets ran frequent updates of the death toll.
Web sites, which are often censored by the authorities, have been
filled with cellphone videos of the quake and commentary - most of
it laudatory, but some of it criticizing the military's failure to
quickly reach some quake victims. A few postings have given life
to a rumor that officials in Sichuan knew the quake was imminent
and failed to act.
Shi Anbin, the media studies professor at Tsinghua University, said
he has been astounded by the candor of the government and the vigor
of the state-run Chinese press. He attributed some of the openness
to a recent law that requires public officials to provide information
to the media. But like many experts, he said the Olympics were having
a profound impact on a government eager to embrace the world.
"This is the first time the Chinese media have lived up to international
standards," he said, adding: "I think the government is learning
some lessons from the past."
