Tragedy in Sichuan

I have watched with great sadness the news coming from Sichuan about the massive earthquake that hit the area. It is hard to get a sense of a 7.9 magnitude quake - hearing that it was felt in Beijing is simply unbelievable. What is truly hard to imagine is the scope of this tragedy. The numbers of dead are climbing far too fast and to hear that upwards of 1 million people will be "significantly affected" by the quake is again, hard to imagine.

Zhang Tian's bringing up the traditional Chinese belief of why earthquakes occur is quite interesting. Of course one could come up with a long list of "offenses" (Tibet might come to mind) commited by China, the government or citizens to justify the notion of karma balancing with this earthquake - but really, there is no balance in tragedy. There is no balance for the loss of your only child. There is no balance for the loss of your home. There is no balance when your whole way of life is ripped up. It really is a horrible tragedy that I feel deep sympathy for those involved.


More than anything, I wish for the best possible response from local, national and international sources to help make this disaster the smallest it could be and the recovery the fastest possible.

A few thoughts more related to the blog itself:
1. China's news media has been uncharacteristically open and transparent about this earthquake. I take that as 2 signs.
1. China is indeed maturing and entering into the global sphere and, therefore, wants to relate and communicate with other nations. I think this is a very positive sign.
2. The quake was well timed - Ok ok ok I know I know - that sounds like a horrible thing to say and do not misunderstand me - THE WENCHUAN QUAKE IS A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY I WOULD WISH UPON NO ONE. However, with Tibet protests in March, a general backdrop of negative sentiments regarding Darfur, and then the parade of controversy that was the Olympic Torch Relay, China was reeling from some of the worst international public sentiments in a long time. Many nations (not just the West as State media so likes to say) were raising their voices against a number of policies, including those regarding Tibet. With the tragedy of the quake, much of that negative sentiment has been washed away.

A clever politician from anywhere would walk to utilize international sympathy stemming from a disaster to achieve certain objectives or release pressure. It appears that some of the news coverage from the quake may be doing just that.

Frankly, though, I think it is just fine. China is now an economic partner with most of the world's nations and it is steadily becoming a partner on more than simply economic terms. Because of Tibet and a host of other issues, I foresee a