TOM WATKINS: China quakes and the children die

May 22, 2008

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman's book tells us "The World Is Flat." For the people of China,, it was crushed at 2:28 p.m. on May 12, 2008.

It is feared that the recent earthquake in China may be responsible for the death of 80,000, with a large percentage of them school-aged children.

Often when you witness tragedy far from home, it is sad, but distant. This tragedy has had a tight grip on my heart and has been up-close and personal. I have traveled to China many times since 1989. Cites like Beichun, Chendu, Chongquing, Wenchung and Mianyang, which sound far off and foreign to many, are where my friends and colleagues call home. What the people in these cities are feeling - pain, anguish and fear - is numbing.

After the quake, I spoke to my colleague and friend from Chendu, who was visiting Mianyang University where I serve as an honorary professor. He told me the central city of Mianyang was not hard hit, but the countryside was devastated. The local stadium is filled with the injured, homeless and childless. Many schools toppled, killing thousands of the "one family, one child" children.

Close to home

I was scheduled to be in China during this time - specifically in Mianyang, near the epicenter of the earthquake - when it struck. Fortuitously, I postponed my travels until the fall.

My Chinese friend spoke with pride about how his country is "doing whatever it takes" to help the people impacted by the quake. He pointed out that Premier Wen Jiabo, China's second-in-charge, is at the epicenter directing the relief effort and giving comfort to the people. He thanked the people of America for their concern and offers to help the Chinese people. He went on to say, like the Olympic theme, One World-One Dream, "everyone is pulling together to help in a time of need - but today we face a nightmare."

There are many Michigan connections to the area where the quake hit. Governor Blanchard signed a sister state/province relationship with Sichuan Province in the early 1980's. Michigan State University has faculty doing research at the Wolong Panda Reserve at the epicenter of the quake. Ford Motor Company has factories and employees in Chongquing and both Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson have built economic and educational bridges with this part of China.

Southeast Michigan is home to thousands of Chinese people. Multiple Chinese Associations have come together to join hands to ask their U.S. neighbors to help their families and friends back in China (see www.cagd.org).

As time passes, countless families will cremate their dead. It is never natural to bury your children. Children in China are revered as the 4-2-1 child (four grandparents, two parents and one, and only one, child). Parents lost their child. Children lost their parents and grandparents. Who will take care of those who remain?

The "Iron Rice Bowl" commitment of life-long socialist government support is gone. Losing a child, while painful at any time, takes on the extra burden of losing not just their child but their future. The only child for many of these rural Chinese people is their lifeline to a better future, along with being their 401k, social security, pension and Medicare - in short, their lives.

Eventually the pain will begin to subside - and anger is likely to emerge.

Initially, the Central Chinese government has been given good grades (especially juxtaposed to the negligence of the Myanmar officials after the cyclone) for the relatively quick response after the initial quake.

However, the anger at local officials for the "shoddy construction" of the schools that collapsed like decks of cards on their children is beginning to boil.

The biggest fear the Communist leaders have is losing control. As Mao once remarked, "a single spark — can start a raging forest fire."

The Tiananmen Square protest in 1989 was more than a march for "freedom and democracy." It was also - in a big way - a call for the end of "corruption by government officials."

Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese leader who followed Mao and is credited with opening China to the world, said, "When you open the window - all the flies can come in." With instant communication, video, cell phones, etc., the Chinese people and the world have watched this tragedy unfold literally before their eyes.

Will the Chinese Central Government respond in ways that produce "screens" that will keep the angry flies out - or could the worst earthquake that has hit China in 30 years expose vulnerabilities in the Chinese veneer? Like other natural disasters, most recently hurricane Katrina and the cyclone in Myanmar, these events have a way of exposing a great deal about the fabric of a country.

Blame will surely be assessed and harsh punishment will be meted out.

Yet the needs of the Chinese people will remain. Please give generously.

Give2Asia

Disaster Recovery Fund

P.O. Box 193223

San Francisco, CA 94119-3223

USA Phone (415) 743-3336

Fax (415) 392-8863

www.give2asia.org

American Red Cross

PO Box 4002018

Des Moines, IA 50340-2018

1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575

www.redcross.org

Tom Watkins is a business and education consultant who does work in the US and Asia. He served as Michigan's State Superintendent of Schools 2001-2005 and Mental Health Director, 1986-1990. He can be reached at tdwatkins@aol.com.

THIS IS NOT A NATURAL QUAKE!!

This earthquake was caused by underground nuclear tests carried out by PRC maniacs.

This area is where the PRC geriatrics centered the nuclear arsenal of the nation.

Repeated underground tests have been carried out here and the geology of the region suffered considerably. The last few tests were the straw that broke the camel's back - the ravaged earth just gave in.

It is very difficult to have sympathy for the Chinese populace that thrives on nationalistic jingoism and accepted such tests as a symbol of national virility. There is a price for such excess and the Chinese have paid it.

Let the world desist from shedding tears for the victims - one reaps what one sows.

Focus on the plight of the Burmese - aided and abetted by the CCP goons this nation has also been victimized by its ruling elite. The Chinese were willing accomplices to the shenanigans of their masters - the Burmese are innocent victims.