Sichuan Earthquake Shows Hope to the Future of Chinese

“In the aftermath of the great Sichuan earthquake, we’ve seen a hopeful glimpse of China’s future: a more open and self-confident nation, and maybe — just maybe — the birth of grass-roots politics here.” Such opening is so refreshing and enlightening. It was from Nicholas Kristof’s Earthquake and Hope on New York Times.

Chinese government has always been portrayed as a no-freedom-no-right communist by Western media (American and European). Most of the coverage is on unsafe products, trade surplus (i.e. deficit in the other countries), human right, property copyright, Tibetan freedom and other negative events. Different culture, and in some cases lower education level, somehow got translated into being uncivilized. To some, communist must be autarchic.

Sichuan earthquake proves them wrong. China has been changing to the right direction. I am glad Kristof shared his thoughts on NYT.

After the earthquake, the Propaganda Department instinctively banned news organizations from traveling to the disaster area. But journalists all around the country ignored it and rushed in. The order was withdrawn the next day. After then, the authority ordered media to focus on the outstanding relief effort. Yet journalists investigated why schools collapsed when government offices stand; and if there were corruptions. Apparently, media scored again.

Earthquake is sad. But I am very impressed by the overall positive attitude.

• Prime Minister Wen Jiabao rushed to the disaster area to oversee rescue operations.


• There are crying faces who lost their loved ones, but those who survive are thankful.


• Many children lost their limbs, but are grateful being saved.


• Buildings were collapsed, but will be rebuilt.


• Schools could be ill-structured; those responsible will be punished.


• Food and supply were short; help is being transported over every day.


• No one fighting for limited resources. Everyone try to help each other.


• Chinese traveled from around the nation to volunteer.


• Mourning messages, articles, video, and animations flooded all major Chinese websites.


• Billions of dollars of donation were collected domestically and from overseas.


• Media offered a good balance of the coverage.

I do not know if such affirmative outlook is a result of pressure from the authority. No doubt it helps to heal those were hurt, unite the country, lift up the nationalism overseas, and build a positive image of the nation’s value around the world. I am pleased to see how Chinese united together. I am proud to be Chinese.