主题：关于地震，针对西方朋友写的，欢迎大家提意见 -- 洗心

关于地震，针对西方朋友写的，欢迎大家提意见

Huge earthquake in China, near my hometown

At 2:28 Pm May 12, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit southwest Sichuan province of China. The epicenter was in Wenchuan, 154 kilometers from the province capital Chengdu (my family there is Ok, thanks to those who asked). The massive quake can be felt through a large part of China, and even as far as Thailand. Around 10 million people in the province were directly affected and so far the casualty estimate is 50,000.

For the last few days, I have been glued to the phone and computer screen. As someone who also followed the aftermath of Katrina, I can only say: it could be much worse, if China were like US. Instead, tens of thousands of soldiers sprung into rescue efforts almost instantly. Though most of the100-kilometer road to the epicenter was totally destroyed and was under constant threat of mudslides and aftershocks, some soldiers managed to get in within 24 hours. Once again, the People’s Liberation Army lives up to its name: they are the ones people can count on during time of crisis, even though many soldiers themselves are mere 17 or 18 year old kids. In all major cities, people lined up to donate blood, sometimes being told to come back later because the blood station has filled up all the storage. In Chengdu, thousands of taxi drivers and car owners have organized themselves to ship supplies into the disaster area and ship the wounded out, without anybody paying them a penny or giving them an order. I don’t know how many times tears welled up in my eyes in the last two days: tears of sadness, tears of sorrow, and tears of empathy and other emotions. A 21 year old kindergarten teacher shielded a toddler from tons of falling concrete, saving the kid with her own life; a low level cadre spent 24 hours on a collapsed school coordinating the dig, while his own 78-year old mother was buried under some rumble, presumably dead; an entrepreneur organized a whole fleet of construction equipments for the rescue; an old grandma made 3,000 breads over night to feed the need: so many ordinary people performing extraordinary deeds. And not a single case of looting has been reported so far.

This is the China I grew up with; this is the China I once knew so well and have been missing about. Yes, it has been in the retreat in the last twenty years, under the relentless attack of extreme individualism and money worship promoted by the “holy market” and the “more superior” western civilization. Yet, it springs back into life when the people are in dire need: rich or poor, men or women, old or young, we are all in this together.

Like many other places in the world, China has many challenges: corruption, environmental degradation, growing gap between the rich and the poor, to just name a few. Not to the mention the global triple crisis: resource depletion, peak oil and global warming, which may manifest themselves more severely than average because of the high population density there. I have to admit that while dealing with these topics, sometimes I cannot help a sense of hopelessness, for both China and the world. Now, seeing the huge natural disaster brings out the best of people in my own city, my own province and my own country, I have a renewed hope for humanity.

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Attached is a letter to a newspaper by an Australian Chinese.

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Let’s compare US and China by An Australian Chinese

Why do the media constantly compare the rescue and relief operations between China and Burma? Let’s compare China with the US:

In China, an earthquake that registered 7.9 struck with no warning. The Premier was on the plane to the disaster center 90 minutes later to co-ordinate the rescue and relief effort; local, provincial and national and military authorities immediately ordered an all-out rescuing effort, no arguments, no buck passing. Airports and buildings were evacuated in little over 30 minutes and police and emergency workers swung into action at about the same time. Soldiers poured into the disaster sites by planes, trucks and, where the roads were damaged, by walking for hours. Victims helped themselves and others where they could; everything was orderly; no chaos, no looting, no crimes and no unreasonable demands, knowing at times of crisis, action, understanding and unity is the best for all.

In the US, a hurricane struck after 48 hours warning. The President reluctantly terminated his holidays one and a half days after the disaster struck; the Secretary of States was seen in New York shopping for designer shoes while people waited for help. Rescue and relief efforts were slow and ineffective. The state Governor blames the Federal and the Federal blames the state; the mayor blames everybody else. Four days after the disaster, troops armed to the teeth appeared on the street in their Humvees, not there to rescue anybody but to maintain law and order and shoot looters. Many police officers wanted to quit or retire early.

I hope this disaster will prompt some in the west who have long hold a deep bias and prejudice against China to rethink. Is democracy a be all, end all thing? If not, let China evolve by its own accord and in its own pace.

As an Australian of Chinese decent, I feel a deep sorrow for the suffering of the nation, especially the victims and their families, but at the same time immensely proud of the way the people, the leadership and the whole nation have responded at times of such devastating tragedy.

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