Response to Quake Prompts Burst of Acclaim for Leaders

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Picking Up the Pieces

China continues recovery efforts after a devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit central China on May 12, 2008, and rendered millions of people homeless.

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If that impression lasts, it could help validate the party's argument that it must retain a monopoly on power because no other organization can guarantee China's stability, efficient governance and economic growth. But if the mood sours as the crisis drags on, the party might have trouble sustaining that argument.

Already complaints are coming in. Some villagers have denounced the government for failing to reach their damaged homes and farms in time. Others have suggested that corrupt officials were behind the shoddy construction blamed for school collapses that killed hundreds of children. Similar accusations concern the hundreds of dams that stretch across Sichuan's rivers, some of which developed cracks during the earthquake.

"I don't think the governing ability of the Chinese government will improve because of the earthquake," said a chemical engineer who identified himself only as Jiang for fear of retribution. "When I saw those fat officials making their long, empty speeches, I felt it is still hopeless."

Apparently aware that the battle is far from won, Wen announced Wednesday that the government had set aside $10 billion for reconstruction. He repeated pledges that the party will continue an all-out effort in the disaster zone -- ordering tent factories, for instance, to work around the clock to provide shelter for the millions gathered in centers for the displaced.

Wen received particularly wide admiration as he traveled around the quake area for the first five days. The party's Central China Television broadcast repeated scenes of Wen urging on rescue teams and stooping to comfort the injured. At one point, he was shown telling a trapped child to hang on because "Grandpa Wen" was on hand.

"All my family likes Wen very much, because he is very affable and kind," said Xie, the Beijing saleswoman. "And I found that many young people who were born after the 1980s and 1990s like him very much as well."

After five days in Beijing organizing relief from the top, Wen flew back to the earthquake zone on Thursday, the New China News Agency reported.

Hu, the president and party leader, also spent several days touring the disaster-stricken hills. He was taped extending condolences to farmers and ordering a speedup in rescue operations. But his manner did not seem to strike the same sympathy among Chinese viewers as Wen's.

An import-export trader in Beijing, for instance, said he had no hope of a real change by the government just because it did what it was supposed to do in response to the disaster. But he singled out Wen for praise, saying the premier showed that "he finishes his task as much as possible by himself."

One reason for the public's embrace of Wen and the general endorsement of the party and government response was the unusual degree of openness displayed by Chinese newspapers and television stations, Zhang said. Unlike in past crises, the party Propaganda Bureau did not prevent reporting on the full extent of the damage; thus the coverage helped the nation share in the tragedy and rallied sympathy for the victims.

Some specialists said propaganda officials had tried to rein in the reporting but failed because so many Chinese journalists were launched on the story. A senior propaganda official, however, strongly suggested that the openness was deliberate.

"Do you think we have gone too far, with all this openness?" he said during a chance encounter.

Researcher Zhang Jie contributed to this report.