China’s disaster playbook falls short in Tianjin blasts
Chinese authorities’ handling of the Tianjin explosions bears many of the hallmarks of their standard approach to the litany of disasters in the country — a clampdown on discussion, official obfuscation, and carefully targeted media condemnation.
But it has been unusually ineffective, analysts say, with a lack of transparency compared to previous disasters that has created an image of indecision or even possible infighting at the highest levels of power.
The August 12 explosions at the hazardous goods storage facility in the port of Tianjin set off a giant fireball, killed 114 people, devastated a vast area and raised fears over potentially toxic contamination.
The aftermath. Photo: Beijing News,
They are only the latest in a series of man-made calamities to strike the Communist country. Two months ago a ferry capsized in the Yangtze River, on New Year’s Eve in Shanghai a crush killed dozens and a pipeline explosion in Qingdao devastated an entire neighbourhood.
Central authorities look to portray such events as the result of individual, local failures, rather than consequences of China’s system of governance, and are quick to suppress any online blame targeting the central government or the system as a whole.
China has punished 50 websites and 360 social media accounts for “spreading rumours” about the Tianjin blast, authorities have said.
A mourner marks seven days since the blasts in Tianjin. Photo: ECNS.
But local authorities have been condemned online and in state-run media for not rapidly disclosing details of what chemicals were present on the site.
“There is a feeling that the authorities are stalling and not being forthright with the people because they are still trying to determine what the next step is,” said Joseph Cheng, a former political science professor at the City University of Hong Kong.
“Man-made disasters like the Tianjin explosion reflect that society is not well managed because safety rules are not followed and corruption is rampant.”
China also regularly suffers earthquakes and flooding and in recent years the Premier — first Wen Jiabao, now Li Keqiang — has regularly rushed to disaster sites in a show of Beijing’s concern and desire to implement effective rescue efforts.
Photo: Reuters.
But Li only arrived in Tianjin on Sunday afternoon, several days after the Wednesday night disaster.
“Now most of the leadership is not taking responsibility, they’re afraid to take responsibility because they are afraid of losing their posts,” wrote one user on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like website.
The delay was “very strange” said Willy Lam, a political science professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, “especially since Tianjin is just a short train ride from Beijing.
“When it comes to natural or man-made disasters, we used to see Grandpa Wen on the scene within 48 hours.”
Li rushed to June’s ferry disaster — which killed 442 people — less than two days after the capsize. Last August he was at the scene of an earthquake that killed more than 600 people for several days, and featured prominently in China’s state-run media.
“This suggests there is a division among the leadership on who should be the fall guy,” Lam said.
Called to account
Accountability for disasters in China is variable. Following a collision between two high-speed trains in Wenzhou — which tarnished the reputation one of China’s flagship projects — the railways ministry was abolished.
In the pipeline explosion in Qingdao, 48 people were disciplined, including Fu Chengyu, chairman of the company that owned the pipeline, but only 15 faced criminal charges.
But no-one has ever been prosecuted over the deaths of more than 5,000 children in an earthquake in Sichuan, when their shoddily built schools collapsed but buildings used by officials remained standing, raising widespread accusations of corruption.
The Wenzhou train disaster. Photo: CNTV.
While in Tianjin, Li himself told Hong Kong’s i-Cable TV: “We must investigate the accident, find the cause of the blasts and anyone who acted illegally will be severely punished.”
Authorities have been lambasted for failing to uphold industrial regulations, notably requirements that warehouses stocking dangerous materials be at least one kilometre from surrounding public buildings and main roads.
Fall guy
Internal principles link disaster death tolls to the rank of official who will ultimately be held accountable, Lam said.
“If it’s under 200, only the vice mayor of Tianjin in charge of safety will need to resign,” Lam said, adding he is the “obvious fall guy”.
But in the case of Tianjin, current mayor Huang Xingguo is widely seen by analysts as part of the Communist party’s “Zhejiang faction”, which has close ties to President Xi Jinping.
He was a vice governor of Zhejiang province when Xi was governor, and Lam said the relationship could protect him from punishment, or limit any repercussions.
The head of China’s State Administration of Work Safety, Yang Dongliang, was put under investigation for “suspected severe violation of discipline and the law”, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Tuesday, employing a phrase often used to indicate corruption.
“There’s still a fairly long way to go for China to become a developed and well-managed country,” Cheng said.
中國的災難劇本達不到在天津爆炸
2015年8月18日19:41 AFP5分鐘讀
本傑明HAAS
天津爆炸中國當局處理承擔他們的許多標準方法災害在國內一連串的標誌 - 在討論取締，官方混淆，並仔細針對性的媒體的譴責。
但是，一直以來不尋常的效果不佳，分析人士說，與缺乏透明度相比，已在權力的最高水平創造猶豫不決甚至有可能內訌的圖像以往災害。
8月12日爆炸在天津港的危險品儲存設施掀起了巨大的火球，殺死114人，受災的廣大地區，並提出擔憂潛在的有毒污染。
天津爆炸
善後事宜。圖文：新京報
他們只是最新的一個系列人禍罷工共產主義國家。兩個月前在翻沉長江渡輪，在新年前夕在上海美眉打死數十名在青島一輸油管道爆炸摧毀了整個社區。
中央政府看描繪這樣的事件作為個體，局部失敗的結果，而不是治理中國的制度後果，很快壓制任何在線針對指責中央政府或系統作為一個整體。
中國已查處50網站和360的社交媒體賬戶“放風”關於天津爆炸，當局說。
天津送葬者
送葬者標誌著7天因為在天津的爆炸。圖文：ECNS。
但地方當局一直在網上和國營媒體的譴責不能迅速披露了什麼化學物質存在於網站的詳細信息。
“有，當局正在拖延和不作為直率的人，因為他們仍在試圖確定什麼，下一步就是一種感覺，”鄭宇碩，香港城市大學前政治科學教授說。
“像天津爆炸人為災難反映社會是沒有得到很好的管理，因為安全規則不被遵守，腐敗猖獗。”
中國也經常遭受地震和洪水，並在最近幾年英超 - 第一溫家寶，現在李克強 - 定期趕赴災難現場的展示北京的關注和渴望，以實施有效的救援工作。
天津爆炸
圖片：路透社。
但李只是抵達天津週日下午，幾天週三晚上災難發生後。
“現在大部分的領導是不承擔責任，他們害怕承擔責任，因為他們害怕失去自己的職位，”在新浪微博，類似Twitter的網站上寫道：一個用戶。
拖延是“非常奇怪”說林和立在香港的中國大學的政治學教授，“尤其是因為天津距離北京很短的火車車程。
“當涉及到自然或人為災害，我們曾經看到溫爺爺在現場48小時內。”
李衝至六月的渡輪災難 - 其中死亡442人 - 翻船後不到兩天。去年八月，他在殺死600多人了好幾天的地震現場，並在中國的國營媒體佔有突出地位。
“這表明沒有對誰應該成為替罪羊領導層之間的分工，”林說。
他們的責任
責任在中國的災難是可變的。繼溫州兩個高速列車相撞 - 這損害了中國的聲譽的旗艦項目之一 - 鐵道部被廢除。
在青島輸油管道爆炸，48人受到紀律處分，包括傅成玉，擁有該管道公司董事長，但只有15面臨刑事指控。
但是，沒有人曾經被起訴過超過5000名兒童在四川，當他們的粗製濫造建學校倒塌，但使用的建築物的官員站在保持，提高腐敗指控普遍存在地震的死亡人數。
溫州火車災難。圖文：CNTV。
而在天津，李本人對香港的i-有線電視：“我們必須調查事故，找出爆炸，誰是非法採取行動將受到嚴厲懲罰的原因。”
當局一直在抨擊未能堅持行業法規，特別是要求該倉庫危險材料儲存來自周邊的公共建築和主要道路至少有一公里，
替死鬼
內部鏈接的原則災害因災死亡官方的誰將會最終被追究責任的軍銜，林說。
“如果這是在200，天津分管安全的唯一的副市長將需要辭職，”林說，他將是“明顯的替罪羊”。
但在天津的情況下，現任市長黃興國廣受分析師看作是共產黨的“浙江派”，其中有密切的聯繫，習近平的一部分。
他是浙江省的副省長當Xi是州長，而Lam表示的關係可以保護他免受懲罰，或限制任何反響。
安監中國的國家工商總局的負責人楊棟樑，正在接受調查置於“涉嫌嚴重違紀法”，中央紀委週二表示，採用通常用來表示腐敗的短語。
“還有相當長的路要走，中國成為發達國家和管理完善的國家，”鄭說。
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