China's old ways shaken by quake
Beijing's flexibility and openness amid a surge of individual initiative to respond in the crisis signals a new dynamic.
BEIJING — In a system with a centuries-long tradition of austere leaders laying down the law from behind their palace walls, China's response to its worst natural disaster in three decades has revealed a nation in the throes of political change.
The China that emerged from the wreckage of Monday's magnitude 7.9 earthquake in Sichuan province looked surprisingly modern, flexible and if not democratic, at least open. It has admitted foreign rescue experts into the disaster area and tolerated reporting by a more aggressive news media.
The leadership has appeared more responsive to the public, and the public in turn reacted with an outpouring of individual initiative to help out.
Premier Wen Jiabao, sounding much like a Western politician throughout the week, trudged through the mud, visited gut-wrenching scenes of collapsed schools and homes, and stroked the cheeks of crying children. Wen even echoed the words of the Bill Clinton who spoke of feeling others' pain, as he told survivors, "Your pain is our pain."
President Hu Jintao flew to the battered city of Mianyang on Friday to show support for victims. The trip appeared to go beyond the formulaic photo opportunity. It suggested a growing recognition by the government that public opinion matters and that the people should know what their leaders are doing, particularly in times of crisis. Instead of ordering people, the government is guiding them in a manner befitting a modern 21st century state.
"The Communist government is changing its ruling ideology to become more people-oriented," said Huang Nanping, Marxism and Leninism professor at Peking University.
The Chinese people too have been intimately a part of the tragedy that has been brought into many of their homes through 24-hour television coverage. They've cheered together when children were rescued from under the rubble; more often they have cried when the dead were carried out.
There has been a crush of people wanting to volunteer in the disaster area in Sichuan -- so many that the government has worked to keep people away.
"I have faced the very real possibility I face death, but I have to help," said Tong Rongan, 33, a volunteer who was sent through a mountaineering club to help in remote areas at higher altitudes. "All my friends, especially the doctors, are envious that I'm getting to go."
Individual initiative
- 'China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province' May 07, 2009
- China says 5,335 students died in last year's quake May 08, 2009
- China earthquake kills 22 Aug 31, 2008
