China blinks
Sunday, 25 May, 2008
Following on from my insensitive post about the earthquake in China and pandas, The New York Times's coverage is really quite informative and poignant (and, of course, miles better than The Sydney Morning Herald:
- ‘A Rescue in China, Uncensored’ had this to say:
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's contention that its largely nonideological brand of authoritarianism can deliver good government as well as fast growth.
- ‘Tiny Bodies in a Morgue, and Grief in China’ highlighted parents' grief (particularly in this country which has a strict one child policy) and anger at the authorities' lack of aid;
- ‘In Rubble, Couple Clung to Each Other, and to Life’ tells the story of one couple who survived only because they clung together;
- ‘Many Hands, Not Held by China, Aid in Quake’ talks about the hundreds of volunteers who streamed into the quake area—most acting against the government's orders to stay away;
- ‘Rescue Ends One Ordeal for Young Chinese Pupils’ focuses on one of the schools where all but three students survived the quake. Unfortunately most of their parents did not;
- ‘Chinese Are Left to Ask Why Schools Crumbled’: A look at what happened to Xinjian Primary School (why it collapsed while the buildings around it didn't), shoddy construction methods, corruption and class differences. Interestingly, the collapse of the schools is also symbolic in some way: “School represents hope in China. The parents do not express it exactly like that, but they saw education as their children's only chance.”
I wonder what the aftermath of it all will be—and what impact it will have on the nation.
Blinks:
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