[Radix] Any suggestions re Sichuan earthquake?

[T.G.Cannon at greenwich.ac.uk]

Dear All
In 10 days I am to give an invited lecture in Brussels for a liberal  
Foundation, in a symposium on disasters in China. There will be two  
Chinese speakers (one of whom some of you will know - and may be on  
this list? - Prof SHI Peijun, (Vice President of the Normal University  
of Beijing and member of
the Expert Committee under the National Disaster Reduction Committee,
Ministry of Civil Affairs of China).

I intend to highlight the inadequacies of the government, and the  
collapse of government constructed buildings (especially schools) that  
should have been EQ protected. I will not of course suggest that China  
is unusual in this problem, but that it should fulfil its claim as a  
'socialist' states that it protects its citizens. However, the  
evidence of poor construction and corruption is rather solid, and the  
citizens and lawyers who protested have been harassed and one laywer  
is I believe still in jail.

The event has been organised in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy  
to the European Union, and they are likely to send a number of  
officials.

My main point (I only have 20 minutes) will be to highlight the social  
construction of disasters, and to emphasise the need for "good  
governance" as part of this. To that end, I propose to argue that the  
Chinese government should actually support freedom of thought and  
information, and the right to protest, because when citizens are free  
to do that (e.g against local corruption) then these human rights  
would in fact be supporting the governments capacity to protect its  
citizens. Does that work?

If there is time I will point out that the idea that states /  
governments should protect their citizens is really a product of the  
enlightenment and democracy, and that previously there was no  
requirement for a ruling class or elite to even pretend that it was  
doing anything other than serve itself.

The communist party variant of this ideology emphasises the role of  
the CP itself in determining what is and is not in the interests of  
all the people, and now that China is 'capitalist' they are back to a  
pre-enlightenment position where the CP uses its power to protect its  
self interest as a ruling elite. Hence the sequence of secretive and  
repressive responses to a series of crises and disasters in the last  
10 years: the Amur river toxic spill (kept secret for 5 days), SARS  
(the doctor who blew the whistle is still harassed and arrested  
periodically), AIDS (the contaminated blood scandal covered up, even  
still last year), etc.

Your responses and advice would be very welcome!

good wishes

Terry Cannon
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