Quake gives Beijing a chance for dramatic image makeover

Today, there are a few articles in The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and New York Times discussing the Chinese government response to the earthquake disaster. This past year, China has certainly seen a lot of criticism, ranging from tainted toys to Tibet and the Olympic torch protest. With the sudden earthquake on Monday, the world’s eyes are on China again – not for criticism, but for concern. And the Chinese government is learning that being more open has its benefits, and especially compared to the Myanmar government’s xenophobic response to foreign aid and reporting.

The Los Angeles Times reports “Quake gives Beijing a chance for dramatic image makeover:”

“Within a few hours after the quake, the Communist Party’s central propaganda department issued an order that Chinese news organizations not send reporters to the scene, but instead only use material from CCTV or from the official New China News Agency. What happened next, however, indicates how much China has changed… And Chinese media broadly ignored the propaganda department’s order. Many newspapers and regional television stations sent reporters to the scene. By Tuesday, the propaganda department appeared to have given up, and simply instructed that journalists “implement the spirit of the central government and use a reporting tone stressing unity, stability and positive publicity,” according to a journalist who had read the order.”

Of course, reading about a “propaganda” department isn’t very reassuring, but how different is that from politicians trying to put the best “spin” on something – like President George W. Bush telling how the federal government and FEMA was doing a great job initially in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and how “”Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” ?

In The Wall Street Journal, Chinese born, raised and educated reporter Li Yuan reports that “Sichuan Quake Shows Changing China:”

“China’s reaction to this week’s earthquake in Sichuan province couldn’t be more different than what happened in 1976 [Great Tangshan Earthquake]. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Sichuan within hours, accompanied by the state press corps. State media, from the Central Television Station to the Xinhua News Agency (my former employer), covered the disaster vigorously. But the public reaction to the quake is what really shows how different China is now. People posted videos shot with cellphones, sharing what it was like during the quake — books tumbling to the floor in a college dorm in Chengdu, lights swaying in a Beijing office — and after the earthquake — people all over the country standing in front of the office towers they’d hastily left.”

This also made me wonder that because China has modernized so rapidly, that the advent of cell phones, SMS/text messaging and the Internet, the era of complete censorship, even with the Great Firewall of China, is impossible. So not only has the Chinese government learned from its mistakes (as well as Myanmar’s), but the technological age we live in is helping to democratize free speech – sort of the natural evolution that has happened in former authoritarian governments in Asia (i.e. Taiwan, South Korea, etc.).

The Wall Street Journal also reports that, “China Earthquake Exposes A Widening Wealth Gap” and discusses the Chinese government’s responsiveness to the poorer and more rural parts of China:

“China’s booming economy has lifted the financial fortunes of most of its citizens, but some have gained far more than others. Economists say the country, still nominally socialist, is now among the most unequal major economies in the world. Much of this imbalance is seen in the contrast between residents of the big, wealthy cities, and those of small, poorer towns and rural areas. The disparity is a growing concern to leaders worried about social instability.”

The Chinese government is deeply concerned about social instability. One reason why China is full charge ahead in developing its economy is to continually create jobs for millions and millions of people entering the workforce every year. Yesterday morning, while getting up, I recall hearing on National Public Radio the report about how traditionally, natural disasters in China have often been considered omens and if a government or dynasty cannot be responsive to its people, the government will lose their mandate of heaven. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao definitely do not want to lose their mandate, and have sent in 20,000 soldiers and paramilitary police, with an additional 30,000 on the way.

Finally, The New York Times reports “A Rescue in China, Uncensored”

“Dali Yang, the director of the East Asian Institute in Singapore, said the [Chinese] government might have come to the realization that openness and accountability could bolster its legitimacy and counter growing anger over corruption, rising inflation and the disparity between the urban rich and the rural poor. “I think their response to this disaster shows they can act, and they can care,” he said. “They seem to be aware that a disaster like this can pull the country together and bring them support…

“Mr. Shi [a professor of media studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing] said he was surprised by the government’s candor and the vigor of the state-run Chinese press… like many experts, he said the Olympics were pushing China to experiment with a greater degree of openness. “This is the first time the Chinese media has lived up to international standards,” he said, adding, “I think the government is learning some lessons from the past.””

Let’s hope for China’s sake, this is the case. A confluence of forces has caused the Chinese government to react differently to this earthquake disaster, and it has been for the better – partly because the world is watching, partly technological, and hopefully mostly because the government is responding to the needs of its people at its greatest need.

I think critics sometimes forget that China has developed rapidly in a very compressed time frame, and that the lessons learned over “normal” time, like what has happened for the United States and Western Europe, has happened on compressed “Chinese Time.” Let’s hope that the Chinese government’s progress in being more open and public, as well as accepting and responding to criticism from its people, is a lasting change and a move in a permanent direction.