5/12 Quake One Year On

The first anniversary of the Sichuan quake that killed nearly 90,000 and displaced hundreds of thousands more is upon us.
It would be cheering to think the coverage would be about a mix of remembrance and rebuilding, physical, social and emotional. While there has been some of that, and that should not be underestimated: officials are [...]

Quake Not Graft Responsible For Sichuan School Collapses, Official Word

The strength of the quake, not shoddiness of construction was the main reason that so many schools collapsed during last May’s devastating earthquake in Sichuan.
So says the province’s executive vice governor, Wei Hong, basing his judgment on an investigation by provincial officials and engineers from Tsinghua University. Wei also said that the official death toll [...]

Sichuan Earthquake Survivors Still Vulnerable As Winter Approaches

This week marks the six months anniversary, if that is the right word,  of the May 12 Sichuan earthquake that killed more than 80,000 people. Fifteen million survivors in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi were displaced. The Red Cross reminds us that many of them remain in temporary reed matting shelters which will be inadequate with [...]

Mission Accomplished

“The successful earthquake relief efforts fully proved, once again, the superiority of the socialist system, the governing capacity of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government, the abilities of the People’s Liberation Army, and the strength of the Chinese nation.”  So starts Xinhua’s report of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s remarks at a meeting [...]

Quake-Flattened Sichuan Schools Were Shoddily Built – Official

An official has at last admitted what many parents in Sichuan have believed since the devastating May 12th earthquake: that schools that collapsed could have done so because of shoddy construction and inferior materials.
The admission has weight as it comes from Ma Zongjin, a geologist who chairs the technical committee set up to investigate the [...]

Sichuan Earthquake Update

Latest reports say three people were killed and at least 35 injured in the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Sichuan and neighbouring Gansu late on Tuesday afternoon. More than 3,200 houses collapsed. Water and power supplies were cut off in Yaodu, and communications were also damaged, Xinhua reports. In Longan in Gansu, which was severely [...]

New Earthquake Rocks Sichuan

Quake-stricken Sichuan shook again when a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the province on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was northwest of Guangyuan. The tremor toppled a bridge cutting off a highway, and cut roads to at least three villages, Xinhua said. Initial reports speak of one death and 23 injuries.
May’s 7.9 [...]

Quake Stricken Sichuan On Flooding High Alert

Sichuan is on high alert as the advent of flood season puts reservoirs, dams and the quake lakes formed after the May 12 earthquake under renewed stress. Emergency evacuation plans have been put into action.
Local weather forecasters issued a flood warning last week, saying summer flooding was likely to be the worst in a decade [...]

The Post-Quake Struggle For Hearts And Minds

Li Yuanchao, who heads the Party’s Organization Department, says Party members should take a leading role in reconstruction after the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan, Xinhua reports. He emphasized the need to build Party branches at the local level.
Does that suggest that senior Party officials are concerned that NGOs have managed to occupy too much [...]

Sichuan To Build Earthquake Museums

What to do with three of the places worst hit by the May 12 earthquake? Turn them into world-class earthquake museums. That, at least, is a plan for Beichuan County, Tangjiashan and Hanwang Town in Mianzhu City, according to Zhang Gu, head of Sichuan’s tourism bureau.