Monthly Archives: May 2008
Shoddily-Built School Collapses Test Beijing’s Openness
An FT report that some parents of children killed in a school collapse in the Sichuan earthquake are considering legal action against local officials they believe responsible for sub-standard construction highlights the growing point of protest in what has otherwise … Continue reading
Filed under Media, Politics & Society, Sichuan earthquake
Dior Drops Sharon Stone From Its China Ads
What goes around, kamas around. (Sorry. Too irresitable.) American actress and Christian Dior spokesperson Sharon Stone has been dropped from its ads in China by the French fashion house Christian Dior for her comments at the Cannes Film Festival last … Continue reading
Filed under Beijing Olympics, Media, Politics & Society, Sichuan earthquake
Beijing Asks Tokyo To Send Military Planes To Sichuan
Another piece of earthquake diplomacy: Kyodo news agency says Beijing has sounded out Tokyo on sending Japanese military planes to help with relief efforts in the stricken zone. The Self-Defense Forces’ aircraft would be used to airlift tents and other … Continue reading
Filed under China-Japan, Politics & Society, Sichuan earthquake
China Orders Tent Makers To Deliver Tents To Quake Zone
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao says domestic tent manufacturers have been ordered to produce and transport 30,000 tents a day to the area devastated by the Sichuan quake, and 900,000 within a month. Providing shelter for the estimated 5 million left … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society, Sichuan earthquake
Quake Rebuilding Poses Challenge To Beijing’s Political Authority
Interesting read from a trio of Financial Times writers, Mure Dickie, Geoff Dyer and Jamil Anderlini, about the challenges facing Beijing in rebuilding after the quake. The immediate response from Beijing, harnessing the top-down system quickly to mobilise vast resources, … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society, Sichuan earthquake
Russia’s Medvedev Heads To Beijing, By Way Of Astana
Russia’s new president, Dmitry Medvedev, arrives Friday. Notable as it is that he is making China the destination for his first official trip abroad, the route he is taking is even more so. He will arrive via Kazakhstan, the energy … Continue reading
Filed under China-Russia, Economy, Politics & Society
Quake Price Gouging and Scams
I caught a radio report that tents, in short supply to house the 5 million needing temporary shelter following the quake, are selling for five times normal prices in Chengdu. The Party’s anti-corruption committee has now warned that any corrupt … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society, Sichuan earthquake
The Grim Statistics Of Sichuan
The death toll of 40,000 gets the headline attention, but there is also a matter of tens of thousands more buried or still missing, a quarter of a million injured and more than 5 million left homeless across eight provinces … Continue reading
Filed under Politics & Society, Sichuan earthquake
