The train crash was a tragedy, but what followed was a much greater tragedy. The response and handling by the government was disastrous to say the least. From not doing a complete search and rescue operation to an apparent attempt to cover the magnitude of the disaster up (reports of bodies falling out of carriages as its being taken off the viaduct) has sparked outrage in China. With news now being censored by the Propaganda Department, the “real” news coming out are mostly from blogs and witnesses, where most reflected the anger in the public sphere.
The actions of the government are perplexing to say the least. Dealing with so many disasters in the past like the SARS outbreak and tainted milk scandal, we would have thought the government has learnt a thing or two about being open and upfront to its people. However, with the recent tragedy, the government seems to have backtracked on its actions on opening up to the public and holding itself accountable to the problem.
This phenomenon could be the result of a couple of deciding factors in my opinion; political infighting and the political sensitivity of the entire high-speed railway project.
Top leadership like Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao has called for “an all out effort to rescue and save the injured”, while at ground zero, trains are being moved, and lines reopened within 36 hours even before a real rescue effort has been mounted. This shows the contrast between the priorities between the two “governments” as they pursue different agenda. While the central government is trying to do the right thing (kind of) to save people, the local government is trying to contain the fallout of the event to save their own jobs and deny responsibility.
The second factor leading to the aftermath of the disaster was the very fact that the high speed trains was suppose to be a status symbol for China’s rise to the top. However, albeit all the boasting on the record breaking speeds and “indigenous” designs, this was overshadowed by this very disaster. Just several months before, China was even on the verge of exporting this business to overseas market. And now, as I read on Bloomberg, Chinese train suppliers may have “Zero’ Chance” in train exports.
And now for some ranting:
What is the point of breaking speed records and building up the largest rail network in 5 years if you can’t offer a safe transportation system that the masses can rely upon?! Now that this event has happened, people’s faith in the high speed rail network and government’s sincerity to address numerous problems has crash and burn. However, having said that, hopefully this event will serve as a painful lesson for the cost of fast growth over quality and hubris of Chinese manufacturers, government and last but not least, its people.
Bloomberg article
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-26/china-has-zero-chance-on-high-speed-train-exports-after-crash-kills-39.html
Aftermath of the accident:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/07/25/china.train.accident.outrage/index.html
