Last week, a tragic earthquake struck Sichuan Province. As PLA soldiers, citizen volunteers, and even Prime Minister Wen Jiabao rushed to Sichuan to offer aid, the world’s hearts and minds mourned with China while the death toll rose.
To summarize the quake’s damage, the New York Times writes:
“On the afternoon of May 12, 2008, an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit Sichuan Province, a mountainous region in Western China. By the next day, the death toll stood at 12,000, with another 18,000 still missing. Over 15 million people live in the affected area, including almost 4 million in the city of Chengdu. Nearly 2,000 of the dead were students and teachers caught in schools that collapsed.”
The death toll currently lies at 55,740, plus 292,481 injured. Tens of thousands are missing, with about 14,000 still buried under the rubble, and 4.8 people are left homeless. This earthquake affected eight provinces, and many other countries in Asia felt the tremor. My friend studying in Beijing, over 1500 km away, said he felt the tremors from his 19th story apartment. He initially thought it was his dog’s leg shaking, but then saw the news.
The Times also wrote an interesting article about the mass civilian effort to help victims of the quake. The article highlights one man’s effort to offer his psychology skills to the survivors:
“Hao Lin had already lied to his wife about his destination, hopped a plane to Chengdu, borrowed a bike and pedaled through the countryside in shorts and leather loafers by the time he reached this ravaged farming village. A psychologist, Mr. Hao had come to offer free counseling to earthquake survivors.”
Pupils hold candles to mourn during a silent tribute to the earthquake victims on May 19 in Harbin, the capital city of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. (Photo: Xinhua)
The Times also speculated about how this mass mobilization of the citizenry might affect the Chinese government’s tight control over civilian organizations:
“Beijing is instinctively wary of public activism and has long maintained tight restrictions on private charities and religious, social and environmental groups that operate outside government control. The public outpouring is so overwhelming that analysts are debating whether it will create political aftershocks and place pressure on China’s authoritarian state to allow more space for civil society.”
Many newspapers have also noted that this earthquake is a big break for China’s image after the Tibet protests, as worldwide mourners now sympathize with Chinese citizens over this great loss of life and infrastructure. In addition, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, basically the state’s image in a nutshell, traveled to Sichuan to offer helping hands and inspirational speeches, respectively. Apparently Wen Jiabao actually used a megaphone to shout words of encouragement to people trapped under buildings, telling them to keep surviving because they would be rescued soon.
Wen Jiabao acting as a Grandpa figure in Sichuan last week. This photo was distributed by the national Chinese news agency. Wen: “Oh Wen will real help arrive?” (Photo: New York Times)
In addition to the loss of human life, many people around the world were concerned because the Wolong Natural Nature Reserve (卧龙自然保护区) is located in Sichuan. This reserve is famously home to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, which was jointly established by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Chinese government in 1980, and is home to over 150 giant pandas. Five Wolong staff members were killed in the earthquake and 10 pandas went missing – all but 3 of the pandas have been recovered. Shortly after the earthquake hit, staff members carried as many pandas as they could find to safe locations.
Many of these shy creatures were scared by the destruction of the earthquake. Here, a panda cub would not let go of it’s caretaker’s shirt.
People around China and around the world have been thinking of the earthquake victims this week. To donate through the Chinese Consulate in New York, please visit http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/xw/t434656.htm.
Sichuan, our thoughts are with you.
