China - earthquakes

Rescue effort 'a race against time' says Hu Jintao

Friday 16 May 2008

On a tour of some of the worst-hit areas, Chinese President Hu Jintao warned that "quake relief has entered the most crucial phase." Authorities say the death toll could rise to 50,000 people.

Chinese President Hu Jintao flew into Sichuan to support soldiers and rescuers working to save the survivors of a deadly earthquake that struck China on Monday.

Four days after the disaster, he encouraged rescuers to make every possible effort to save the victims, saying that relief work had entered its “most crucial phase.”

A change in the Chinese government’s attitude

The Chinese government has announced it will investigate the high number of schools destroyed on Monday. While many other buildings survived the tremors, thousands of children died when school buildings collapsed.

According to FRANCE 24 International Affairs specialist Jean-Bernard Cadier, Hu’s visit to the region shows attitudes in China are changing. “Before, the authorities would have sought to play down the disaster. But when the president decides to pay a visit to Sichuan, the opposite effect is achieved,” he says. “He is taking a risk because, traditionally, authorities would have only visited the region once the rescue work is over.”

Resigned survivors hope for more help

“The relative resignation of the people here is particularly striking. They are calmly queuing and displaying great solidarity,” says FRANCE 24 correspondent Sébastien Le Belzic, reporting near the quake’s epicentre, in the Sichuan region.

In a TV interview with FRANCE 24, a doctor in the town of Dujiangyan complained that he is running out of medical supplies for his patients. “Today, we are particularly in need of common medicine and disinfectants.”

Concerned by the scale of the natural disaster, neighbouring countries have decided to participate in rescue operations. After Japan sent around 30 rescuers on Thursday, Russia, South Korea and Singapore are poised to send around 50 relief workers each.

Preparing the adoption of quake orphans

As scores of children have now lost their parents, the Chinese government said it would examine adoption demands from “qualified people.”

According to official agency Xinhua, organisations based in China, but also abroad, are already seeking to facilitate the adoption of children. The agency said orphans will be cared for by local bureaus of the ministry of civil affairs.

As our correspondent explains, it is difficult to know just how many children have been orphaned given that the fate of children who boarded at schools is still unclear.