A Perspective from Japan

The Sichuan Earthquake: Bringing China Together?

 

Cultural News, June 2008

 

By Motoaki Kamiura, Military Analyst

Translated by Alan Gleason

 

     A massive magnitude-eight earthquake struck Sichuan, China on May 12, but it was not until several days later, after the restoration of communications and transportation to the area, that the true extent of the devastation became apparent. As of this writing, over 68,000 people have been confirmed dead and nearly 19,000 are still missing. Most of the victims were crushed under collapsing buildings. Numerous Chinese government leaders have visited the disaster zone and pledged massive and immediate assistance on a national scale.

 

     The People’s Liberation Army promptly dispatched over 130,000 troops to the area, accompanied by 100 military helicopters and some 10,000 medical personnel in what is undoubtedly the largest rescue operation in Chinese history.

 

    Also unprecedented is the government’s acceptance of rescue teams from Japan, Korea and other countries, and its admission of journalists from overseas into the stricken region. Images of emergency supplies being hauled into the area, soldiers carrying elderly women on their backs, and children receiving treatment in medical tents have been transmitted around the globe.

 

    The Beijing Olympics were intended to showcase China’s new prosperity to the rest of the world and give the Chinese people something to rally around. But now it appears that the Sichuan earthquake may turn out to be an even more powerful rallying point than the Olympics. Beijing citizens have been lining up every morning to give blood for transfusions for the injured, and donations have poured in from Chinese communities overseas.

 

     Even Tibetans who were caught in the quake have expressed their gratitude to the PLA soldiers who rushed to their aid. From Germany, where he was visiting at the time, the Dalai Lama prayed for the souls of the dead and expressed his condolences to those who lost their families in the quake.

 

    Thus the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics in August is already being viewed as an occasion to celebrate the Chinese people’s resilience in the face of unprecedented disaster.

 

   The quake also presents President Hu Jingtao with the perfect opportunity to

enhance his credibility and solidify his administration’s power. The government may even see another silver lining in the disaster: the massive recovery and rebuilding project that follows may actually help lift the western region of China, which has lagged behind the east in economic development, out of its impoverished state.

 

Motoaki Kamiura is a Tokyo-based military analyst. When the world is in crisis, he appears frequently on national television programs.

  

  Alan Gleason is an editor, writer, and Japanese-English translator. He lives in Tokyo.