The devastating earthquake in Sichuan, China killed over 80,000 people and injured hundreds of thousands. Entire China was mobilized for disaster relief. Donations from around the world flowed in to help the victims. The Chinese government's quick action probably saved hundreds of lives and generally received positive comments.
Here I want to bring your attention to a fact that few western journalists have picked up on during their reports of the earthquake and the rescue operation, a fact that is also not talked about very much in the Chinese media.
There are already several diaries here covering the earthquake:
koNko's 1st diary on the earthquake
koNko's 2nd
koNko's 3rd
beijingbetty's
Zwoof's diary
We all know that the epicenter of the quake is in Wenchuan county, and that this county is located in the mountains in Sichuan province, at the foothills of the Himalayas. But most of us don't know that this county is located inside the so-called "Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture," where ethnic Han makes up a minority of the population there. According to the data provided by Xinhuanet, the makeup of the ethnic population in Wenchuan county is 46% Han, 34% Qiang, 19% Tibetan, and 1% Muslim.
What is remarkable is that there is almost no mention of any ethnic origins of the victims and rescuers. The only story that I can find mentioning the ethnic identity of a victim, is this story of heroism with the headline "12 year old Tibetan girl buried and died in effort trying to save her classmates" published by Sina News on May 16. She was a team leader in her class and was helping the teacher to evacuate the students when the building collapsed. On the blog page, this story was followed by over 1200 comments, such as
好妹妹,你是我们中国人的
036;样,我为你荣。
("Good little sister, you are the example for all Chinese. I am proud of you.") and
愿您在天国,依然与在校时
968;样,带领着这次一起去天国
的小天使们快乐地生活着!
("Wish you in heaven, to be the same as in school, and to lead all the little angels who went with you in a happy afterlife.")
I could not help notice the almost complete racial blindness in the aftermath of the earthquake, both in terms of the government actions, and in terms of the reactions by the media and the public. Contrast this with the highly charged racial atmosphere after Katrina. It's hard to prove that Bush's inaction after Katrina was because of racial prejudice. But it is certain that Premier Wen's quick action after the earthquake was not prejudiced by race. Whatever you may say about the Chinese leaders, they're certainly not "the same bunch of goons and thugs" as Bush and company.
There is no official breakdown of the earthquake casualties in terms of ethnic groups. If one uses the population percentage I quoted above, then about 15,000 ethnic Tibetans probably perished in this earthquake. So it is a particular display of ignorance and bad taste when Tibetan independence supporters suggest that the earthquake in China was karma for violence in Tibet. This message was spread on pro-tibetan independence blogs and from people like Sharon Stone who claims that she is a friend of the Dalai Lama. This of course would only serve to further anger Chinese people, including ethnic Tibetans who suffered greatly from this earthquake.
However you view this diary, the amazing fact of the lack of racial awareness during such a big disaster, puts a big hole in the story woven by the western media about Tibet and China. I think it's time for western liberals to re-examine their understanding of China, and their stand on the question of Tibet. It pains me when I see fellow kossacks refuse to have an open mind, and strictly toe the partyline that in order to love Tibet, one must hate China.