Evaluating China’s Response to Disaster

The China Rises blog has an interesting discussion of China’s response to the recent earthquake in Sichuan. Most observers have found the government’s response to be much improved compared to last winter’s snowstorms, when the government’s poor response angered many citizens. But despite the central government’s quick moves, some Chinese citizens are not pleased about the lack of immediate attention from local governments. Even more ominous, the parents of students who died in collapsed schools in rural China are angry about poor school construction. They point out that the government buildings are still standing and wonder whether the Party cares more for its own cadres than for their sons and daughters. Foreign Policy has more about this situation.