China’s earthquake
中国地震
Days of disaster
灾难里的日日夜夜
May 15th 2008 | BEIJING AND DUJIANGYAN
From The Economist print edition
Two natural disasters; two very different responses. We look first at the government’s response to the earthquake in China, then at poor Myanmar
两场自然灾害，两种不同的反应。我们首先关注中国政府对地震的反应，然后再转向不幸的缅甸
“DON’T cry, don’t cry. It’s a disaster, and you’ve survived,” China’s prime minister, Wen Jiabao, told weeping orphans in a town almost flattened by the country’s worst natural disaster in more than 30 years. Mr Wen’s awkward words may have done little to calm the bereaved children. But amid the huge destruction caused by the earthquake of May 12th, China’s leaders thus far have scored some unusual public-relations successes.
“别哭，别哭，这是一场灾难，你们幸存下来了。”中国总理温家宝在一个几乎被地震夷为平地的镇上安慰哭泣的孤儿，中国遭受了近三十年来最为严重的自然灾 害。温总理笨拙的语言可能对于安慰这些失去双亲的儿童没有太大的作用，但是在5月12日这场地震造成的巨大损失中，中国领导人在这次非同寻常的公众关系处理 上获得了迄今为止最大的成功。
Hampered by poor weather (at least for the first day or two) and the blocking of mountain roads by landslides, Chinese troops have been struggling to rescue thousands of people buried in rubble and to bring aid to stricken communities across a wide area of the southwest on the edge of the Tibetan plateau. Three days after the disaster, officials put the number of dead at around 20,000, most of them in Sichuan Province north of the provincial capital, Chengdu. With many trapped, the toll could reach 50,000, the government said.
尽管有恶劣天气（至少是前两天）和山体塌方造成的道路阻塞，中国军队仍然尽力营救埋在废墟底下的人们以及对西南方青藏高原边界的受灾群众给予支援。在灾难 发生三天后，官方给出的死亡人数在20000左右，绝大多数在四川省会成都的北部地区。政府声称，随着更多伤亡人员的发现，死亡人数可能会达到 50000.
In contrast with neighbouring Myanmar’s lethargic and secretive handling of its cyclone ten days earlier, China responded to the earthquake rapidly and with uncharacteristic openness. Within hours Mr Wen was on a plane, President Hu Jintao was chairing an emergency meeting of the Politburo’s Standing Committee and thousands of soldiers and police were being dispatched. After an initial deployment of 5,000 troops the number was ramped up to 100,000 within three days. The official media, often reticent about reporting bad news, rapidly updated casualty numbers. State-owned television provided non-stop coverage.
与十天前近邻缅甸处理其强热带风暴灾难时的迟钝和遮遮掩掩相比，中国政府的反应非常迅速而且异常开放。在几个小时内温家宝总理已经坐上飞机赶往灾区，中共 中央总书记，国家主席胡锦涛也立即主持召开了一场紧急的中国中央政治局常委会，数千名士兵和警察已被派赴灾区。在首次派遣5000名士兵赶赴灾区之后，在 接下来的三天内士兵的总数已经达到100000.通常报喜不报忧的官方媒体，非常迅速地更新伤亡人数。国家电视台提供不间断新闻报道。
During China’s second-deadliest natural disaster of recent years, flooding along the Yangzi River that killed thousands in 1998, officials barred foreign journalists from some affected areas and failed to update casualty figures for two weeks, before providing suspiciously low numbers. Even this year the government was slow to respond to a snow disaster that affected much of south and central China in January. It expelled foreign journalists from Tibetan-inhabited areas (including the part of Sichuan now worst affected by the earthquake) after an outbreak of anti-Chinese unrest in March.
在中国近些年来第二大致死的自然灾害——1998年导致数千人员遇难的长江大水中，官方禁止外国媒体接近一些受灾地区而且在提供令人怀疑的很低的伤亡数字 之前两周未更新伤亡数字。甚至在今年，政府对于一月份影响到中国中南部地区的雪灾仍反应迟钝。而且在三月份西藏动乱爆发后，中国政府也驱赶了藏族聚居区 （其中包括这次受灾的四川部分地区）的外国记者。
Of course, covering up was not an option. China measured the earthquake at a magnitude of 7.8, a force so powerful that it sent panicky office workers running into streets as far away as Beijing, 1,500km (930 miles) to the north. But China’s leaders are anxious to repair the public-relations damage they have suffered internationally as a result of the Tibet crisis. And they are keen to avoid the kind of criticism directed at Myanmar.
毋庸讳言，遮遮掩掩决非良策。中国测量地震的级别为7.8级，如此强大的力量导致震中以北1500公里（930英里）远的北京写字楼里的白领都惊慌 失措，纷纷跑到大街上避难。但是中国政府急于修补由于西藏危机而造成的国际间的公共关系的损坏。而且中国政府也想要避开遭受像缅甸那样的批评。
Foreign reporters have been allowed into affected areas without hindrance by officials. China welcomed foreign aid in the form of material and cash. Japan said it was sending an earthquake team. President Hu discussed the disaster in a telephone conversation with George Bush and thanked him for American offers of help. Amid nationwide shock at the scale of the disaster, a recent upsurge of anti-Western sentiment triggered by events in Tibet appears to be abating.
外国记者被允许在没有官员陪伴的情况下前往受灾地区。中国欢迎外国物资和现金援助。日本说它要派遣一支地震救援队。胡锦涛主席与布什通过电话讨论了中国的灾情并感谢美国的援助。在全国范围都能感受到的灾难面前，由于西藏问题而造成的反对西方的情绪有所减弱。
Since March no Politburo member has publicly visited Tibet. Comforting earthquake victims, however, presents few political risks.
从三月以来没有中央政治局委员到过西藏。然而安抚地震受难者却没有任何政治风险。
Mr Wen has remained at the scene to direct relief operations. Chinese television showed residents muttering “Thank you, prime minister, thank you,” after he declared to one group that thousands of troops and police had been deployed. Some victims are angry, but their resentment is directed at local officials rather than the central authorities.
温家宝总理仍然在救灾现场直接指挥。中国电视台播出的画面上显示：在温总理宣布要有数千名军人和警察将要来展开救援时，有当地居民小声地说：“谢谢，总理，谢谢！”有些受难者很愤怒，但是他们的怨气大多针对当地官员而不是中央的领导。
In Dujiangyan, a large town about 50km from the epicentre, a woman in her 50s complains that while some buildings collapsed, the government and party headquarters remained intact. “Corruption and supervision of construction work is a problem, a very big problem,” says another resident. “I hope they learn a lesson from this.” Even the state-owned media have said shoddy construction may have exacerbated the impact. Casualties at schools have been high, partly because many were in classrooms when the earthquake struck in the early afternoon, but partly too, parents suspect, because they were badly built.
在距离震中约50公里的都江堰市，一个约50岁的妇女抱怨到当一些房屋倒塌时，政府和党委总部的房子却完好无损。“腐败和施工监管是个问题，一个很大的问 题”另一个居民说，“我希望他们能从中学到些东西。”甚至国家电视台都说，劣制的建筑加剧了地震的伤害程度。学校的伤亡人数很高，部分原因是许多当地震发 生时正是下午早些时候，大部分学生都在教室，还有一部分原因，家长怀疑是学校建筑质量太差。
Hundreds of children were buried at Dujiangyan’s Xinjian Elementary School, where a four-storey building collapsed like a pack of cards. One young woman, whose son had been killed at the school, was frantically trying to find out where his body had been taken. At one point she stood in front of an ambulance, sobbing and demanding information. Police came and took her gently aside and told her they would try to find the name of the morgue. Several ambulances plied to and from the site, but the official media have reported the rescue of only 50 or so children. Mr Wen watched two of them being pulled from the rubble and wept at the sight, said one Chinese report.
数百名学生被埋在都江堰兴建小学的废墟下，小学四层教学楼像扑克牌一样压在了一起。一位在这个学校遇难孩子的母亲发疯般第要找出她孩子的尸体被移到了哪 里。在那里她站在一辆救护车前，哭泣着问着孩子的消息。警察温和地把她拉到了一边，告诉她他们会尽力寻找存放孩子遗体的太平间的名字。一些救护车在那里来来往 往穿梭不息，但官方媒体报道说，只有约50个孩子获救。中国媒体报道，温家宝总理看望了两个从废墟里拖出的孩子，不禁流下了眼泪。
The victims’ torch song
遇难者的感伤之歌
Officials are worried about damage to dams upriver from Dujiangyan, closer to the epicentre. Xinhua, a government-controlled news agency, has said Dujiangyan would be “swamped” if the nearby Zipingpu dam were to suffer major problems. Cracks have appeared on the dam’s surface and workshops at the site have collapsed. The dam was completed less than two years ago despite concerns raised at the time about building it so close to a seismic fault line.
官方担心地震损害靠近震源的都江堰上游的大坝。官方控制的新华社报道说，如果临近的紫坪铺大坝有大问题的话，都江堰就会被淹没。大坝的表面有裂痕，而且那个地方的厂房已经坍塌。这个大坝完工还不到两年，当时就有人提出对它太接近地震断裂带的担忧。
The Chinese media note that the government’s decision to allow prompt coverage follows the implementation on May 1st of new rules on “government information transparency”. Under these rules, the authorities are supposed to make public any information involving the “vital interests of citizens”. But political calculations are likely to have played a bigger role than the regulations themselves, which still allow information to be withheld if it relates to “state secrets”—a term applied sweepingly in China.
中国媒体注意在实施5月1日“国家信息透明度”的新规定后，政府决定提升新闻媒体覆盖面。在这些规定下，政府被期望给予公众任何有关“公民切身利益”的信 息。但是政治估量可能比监管本身扮演更重要的角色，它要求信息如果涉及“国家机密”——在中国是个笼统的概念——将会被保留.
The Olympic games are a powerful incentive. The authorities rapidly decided to bow to public opinion and scale down the razzmatazz surrounding the parade of the Olympic torch through China in order to reflect the tragedy. Having at first suggested the torch ceremonies would continue as planned (they include a relay close to the disaster area next month), officials now say they will be “simplified” and combined with fund-raising for earthquake relief. A ritual that last month served as a red flag to China’s critics may now be turned to much better use.
奥运会是 个强大的诱因。官方迅速决定听从民意，缩小中国范围内奥运火炬传递的规模和范围以对这场巨大的悲剧作出反应。开始官方说中国境内的火炬会按计划继续进行 （包括下个月在灾区的传递），现在却宣布会“简化”传递程序而且与抗震募捐相结合。上个月引起了中国批评者敌意的火炬传递仪式，如今或许会被更妥善的使用。
译者：rushor http://www.ecocn.org/forum/viewthread.php?tid=11385&extra=page%3D1
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