Quake tragedy reveals China's economic might

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HANWANG, China -- Above the city of Hanwang, the mountains are scarred by giant landslides -- symbols of the earthquake that literally sheered the tops off of peaks as it wreaked devastation on the cities and towns below.In the shadow of those menacing mountains, the streets of Hanwang have become a scene of organized chaos. Thousands of Chinese soldiers, emergency workers and volunteers are toiling to help a city where the earthquake killed more than 4,000 people -- just one of the dozens of towns and cities crushed by the quake.Within days of the disaster, the workers and soldiers were already setting up a temporary water-pipe system to pump water into the city. They were distributing face masks, spraying disinfectant, providing relief supplies, directing traffic, offering phone services, setting up tents for the homeless, registering the victims, and performing dozens of other vital tasks.The catastrophe in Sichuan has shown China at its best -- and occasionally at its worst. It has offered a more complex and humane portrait of a country that is often seen only as a source of economic power and political autocracy. The tragedy that left more than 70,000 dead or missing has also, paradoxically, showcased China's achievements of the past 30 years. Within hours of the quake, China was able to mobilize its vast human resources and target them at a massive disaster in a remote and forbidding region. More than 100,000 troops, police, medical workers and volunteers of every kind were astonishingly quick to reach the worst-hit cities, to search for survivors, offer relief, and evacuate the homeless to sports stadiums and tents.It may have seemed chaotic at first, but a closer look revealed it as an impressive display of China's economic prowess. China's modern infrastructure -- expressways, bridges, airports, bulldozers, excavators, cranes, trucks and vast fleets of private cars -- allowed most of the quake victims to get help within days (even though many villages were bypassed in the early response).As an organizational feat, it was extraordinary. Much of the response was improvised and instinctive, yet it meshed together in unexpectedly efficient ways, using the best of government muscle, military power, corporate resources, individual volunteerism and grassroots creativity. There was no sign of looting or violence in the disaster zone, despite all the pressures on the survivors.China's strengths were most obvious when compared to the Myanmar military regime's, which was scandalously slow and haphazard in reacting to its own tragedy -- the cyclone that left at least 134,000 dead or missing this month.Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, in contrast, arrived in the earthquake zone within hours of the disaster to show support for the relief workers. He demonstrated a speed and sensitivity that is rarely seen in other authoritarian regimes, including that of Myanmar -- where junta leader Than Shwe and his top generals were almost invisible for two weeks after the cyclone.China provided a deluge of information about the disaster, including a wave of detailed coverage on television, radio, Web sites and newspapers. Beijing also allowed foreign journalists to travel freely to the quake zone. Myanmar, by contrast, preferred to conceal as much as possible, barring all foreign journalists from the country and preventing even foreign relief workers from entering the disaster area.Not everything, of course, has been positive. The earthquake has also exposed some of China's worst flaws. It revealed, for example, shoddily built schools that collapsed into rubble as soon as the quake hit, killing hundreds of children. In some towns, the schools collapsed even when neighboring buildings (and government offices) survived with barely a scratch. Local corruption is believed to be one reason for the poor construction.And while China has been relatively open to foreign journalists in the quake zone so far, it was slow to accept offers from foreign rescue teams -- even though the foreign teams had equipment and expertise that could have saved lives.Chinese rescue workers readily admitted that their efforts were hobbled by a severe shortage of life-detecting equipment and sniffer dogs, which the foreign teams would have provided. Yet the Chinese government allowed its political needs to interfere with the offers of help.It was a sign that China still gives top priority to the commands of its authoritarian leaders, even during the worst disaster in more than three decades.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)