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By Julien Bertrand and Derek Sandhaus
As mentioned earlier, not a day had passed since the earthquake hit and we were already seeing cynical reactions from media outlets like The First Post blaming the devastation on China's rush to modernization, but the vast majority of the coverage has been positive and supportive of the country in its time of crisis.
Just yesterday, the New York Times wrote a piece on the overwhelmingly positive reaction to China's rescue efforts and the favorable impact it might have on the opinion of the international community. When just weeks ago, antagonism between China and the outside world over their handling of the Tibetan riots and Olympic torch relay seemed to be at its worst, the earthquake response marks a dramatic departure. The current international solidarity is, the Times contends, the direct result of a more honest and candid approach to national crisis by the Chinese government.
Dali Yang, the director of the East Asian Institute in Singapore, 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.Compared to what the rest of the world is used to seeing from China, their open handling of the current disaster may mark a pivotal new moment in the country's development, particularly when compared to the Gang of Four's abysmal reaction to the 1974 Tangshan earthquake which resulted in 240,000 deaths. Also when you look at the Chinese response to the Sichuan quakes next to neighboring-country Myanmar's handling of the recent devastating hurricane, it's hard not to conclude that the Chinese government is doing more to help their people.“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.”
This sentiment was echoed today by Bloomberg in another article that commends China on their openness in the face of national tragedy. This article also discusses the turnaround between the Tibet coverage and the current wave of international support. It also focuses on how China initially downplayed this winter's snowstorms and the 2003 SARS outbreak, mistakes which ultimately proved costly, and the greatly improved response we are witnessing now. Both sources also view this as a test for the CCP-led government and a chance to demonstrate their effectiveness and ability to help their people on an international stage.
The response from official state-run media outlets indicates that this is not just wild speculation on the part of Western journalists either. Xinhua News online put out a piece the day after the quakes about how the government has urged local-media sources to be professional and vigilant in their coverage of quakes. Yesterday's People's Daily also indicates that the government, too, views this as a test of their readiness to respond to disaster and ability to openly report the news:
Our endeavor to minimize the losses and eventually surmount all difficulties it caused hinges on whether we have the matured wisdom and capability to respond to it.[...]The complete, thorough information openness and transparency have stemmed hearsays from being generated and spread, and enable general public from varied social strata to acquire a peaceful mentality with a great composure and presence of mind. Such openness and transparency guarantee the right of general public to get to know the truth...With both sides in general agreement about the benefits of a more candid approach, this could be the beginning of a new day in Chinese media-regulation, but the real test for that will come after the earthquakes.
Also on Newsweek.com: An insightful article by Melinda Liu raises questions about the relationship between natural disasters and regime change.
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I can't wait to see who is the first commenter to say this is just another crass political tactic by the CCP...
I'll hold my judgment until we read about accountability for poor building construction practices.
For once I agree with mr lambskewer. just waiting to see how high accountability will go. Heads will roll, just a matter of how many.
Accountability for shoddy construction practices has absolutely nothing to do with the PRC's stellar response to this crisis so far. I think FEMA and the Bush Administration should be taking notes.
whoever responsible for poor construction practices should be severely condemned. Those school buildings were only built 10 years ago.
At the mean time, I was wondering what kind of building could survive an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale?
The government's response to this catastrophe is assuring.
"We have seen magnificent government buildings in poor cities where disasters frequently hit; we have seen officials in luxury cars though working in one of the most impoverished county. This time around, we saw elegant government buildings remain intact while dozens of schools crumbled like sand houses."
http://www.eeo.com.cn/ens//
Observer/2008/05/15/99788.html
most buildings crashed are made by the poor farmers themselves. what, accountability on them for being so poor?
do anyone watch the news? the goverment building crashed as well in most affected area.
the most severe affected area are the villages where almost all the villagers are buried under their own house.
I heard the town was flattened, no single building left intact.
Of course, the affect of all of this media coverage will be to effectively reverse the negative international sentiment created by the Tibet incidents, unite the nation, create an opportunity to mend egos wounded by the torch protests, reduce international criticism and offer the Chinese people and the Chinese government the sympathy of the world. This naturally a great opportunity for the Chinese leadership, because unlike in the case of Tibet, in this crisis, they are aligned very much with both national and international sentiment. In the wake of the earthquake, the CCP is not seen as crushing helpless peasants, but helping crushed peasants.
As we in the states learned after 9/11 (not for the first time), appearing to be "the solution" to a major tragedy offers a huge political mandate. While on one hand, the CCP is not considered to be responsible for this "act of God" (i.e. earthquake), it can present itself as the "good savior" of the common people and thus gain political capital both in and outside of China.
Don't believe for a second that this media frenzy is indicative of any increased openness, and I dare you to go test this new "openness" in Tibetan areas. Rather, the key to this openness is that the CCP's hands are clean and it can present the tragedy in a way that leaves it beyond criticism and just maybe some foreigners - like the authors - will commend it. Because the CCP is seen as blameless, the press may cover it largely unfettered, and the CCP has everything to gain from this - if only avoiding the scandal implied by imposing media silence.
Don't be surprised if the earthquake is hauled out again at the Olympics, and China's eye-popping displays and medal-count becomes "in memory of those who died." Overcoming tragedy, if only through the symbolism of sport, makes for emotional and powerful propaganda - powerful enough to seduce even outsiders.
And in regards to the construction issue, that will be a good opportunity for Beijing to take out any questionable party cadres in Sichuan and replace them with more loyal ones -- or at the very least, find a few scapegoats to serve time and further distance Beijing from any sort of blame, reinforcing the image of "heroic Beijing."
"the CCP is not seen as crushing helpless peasants, but helping crushed peasants."
Unlike the Myanmar devils, who Beijing so vigorously defends.
I just have to say I called that one...
China has really shone through in this crisis. Their patronage of the scum that runs Burma does need to stop. What's the point of standing by this regime? Oil? It's not worth it. Look at the U.S., we've twisted our values into a sickening pretzel so we can get another drop from the arabs. We should all walk and bicycle instead!