News Analysis
A Rescue in China, Uncensored
Wang Jiaowen/ColorChina Photo, via Associated Press
Rescuers carried an injured quake victim from a collapsed building on
Tuesday in Beichuan County, China. The country=92s openness about the
disaster is a departure from past practices.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/world/asia/14response.html?th&emc=3Dth
By ANDREW JACOBS
Published: May 14, 2008
BEIJING =97 Mothers wailing over the bodies of their children. Emergency
workers scrambling across pancaked buildings. And a grim-faced
political leader comforting the stricken and reassuring an anguished
nation.
While such scenes are a staple of catastrophes 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
calamities and then bungling its response.
Since an earthquake flattened a swath of rural Sichuan Province on
Monday, killing nearly 15,000 people, the government in Beijing has
mounted an aggressive rescue effort, dispatching tens of thousands of
troops and promptly sending Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to the disaster
zone, accompanied by re****ters.
A hard hat on his head and a bullhorn in hand, he ducked into the
wreckage of a hospital where scores of people were buried and shouted:
=93Hang on a bit longer. The troops are rescuing you.=94 Throughout the
day, the images of Mr. Wen directing disaster relief officials and
comforting the injured dominated the airwaves.
With scenes of the calamitous cyclone in Myanmar still fresh =97 and the
military government=92s languid, xenophobic response earning it
international scorn =97 China=92s Communist Party leaders are keenly aware
that their approach to the earthquake will be closely watched at home
and abroad. And after two bruising months of criticism from the West
over its handling of Tibetan unrest, the government can ill afford
another round of criticism as it prepares to host the Olympic Games in
August.
In its zigzagging pursuit of a more nimble and effective form of
authoritarian rule, China may be having a defining moment. Its harsh
crackdown on discontented Tibetans bore the hallmarks of Beijing=92s
hard-line impulses. But its decision on Tuesday to scale back the
elaborate domestic leg of the Olympic torch relay =97 after a flood of
Internet protests calling it insensitive =97 is a sign that officials
are not deaf to public sentiment.
**** 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 Communist Party leaders. =93My judgment
is that the government has drawn some lessons from negative feedback,=94
he said. =93I think it reflects a trend of Chinese openness and reform.=94
So far, that approach appears to be paying off. Commentary on Chinese
Web sites and in chat rooms has been full of praise for the
government=92s emergency response. On Tianya, a popular forum where
antigovernment postings sometimes find a home, users have been quick
to shout down those who criticize Mr. Wen and the military=92s delay in
reaching some quake victims. =93Those who can only do mouth work please
shut up at this key moment,=94 says one posting.
Another writer praised the People=92s Liberation Army, saying: =93Whenever
there=92s a life-or-death crisis, they=92re the ones on the front line. We
certainly can overcome this catastrophe because we have them.=94
Chinese Web sites remain heavily censored, and a brief flirtation with
openness and responsiveness does not mean that China is headed toward
Western-style democracy. On the contrary, if China manages to handle a
big natural disaster better than the United States handled Hurricane
Katrina, the achievement may underscore Beijing=92s contention that its
largely nonideological brand of authoritarianism can deliver good
government as well as fast growth.
Dali Yang, the director of the East Asian Institute in Singa****e, said
the government might have come to the realization that openness and
accountability could bolster its legitimacy and counter growing anger
over corruption, rising inflation and the disparity between the urban
rich and the rural poor.
=93I think their response to this disaster shows they can act, and they
can care,=94 he said. =93They seem to be aware that a disaster like this
can pull the country together and bring them sup****t.=94
The official response since Monday stands in stark contrast not only
to neighboring Myanmar=92s, but also to China=92s abysmal performance
during a major quake in 1976, when at least 240,000 people died 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 after the quake, the powerful Gang of Four played
down the disaster and rebuffed offers of help from the outside world,
leaving rescue efforts to poorly equipped soldiers.
Hua Guofeng, who was the chosen successor to Mao and was then out of
favor, visited Tangshan a few days after the quake. This act of good
will enhanced his power and, along with Mao=92s death later that year,
emboldened him to arrest the Gang of Four, effectively ending the
decade-long Cultural Revolution and ushering in leaders who introduced
the economic reforms that continue to transform China.
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Fan Wenxin contributed re****ting from Shanghai.
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