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Wednesday, 27 July 2011
China state paper accuses authorities of ‘arrogance’
One of China’s official newspapers on Wednesday accused the authorities of “arrogance” in their handling of a deadly high-speed train crash, joining a rising chorus of public fury.
China state paper accuses authorities of ‘arrogance’
AFP News 27 July 2011
One of China’s official newspapers on Wednesday accused the authorities of “arrogance” in their handling of a deadly high-speed train crash, joining a rising chorus of public fury.
The state-run Global Times contrasted the “bureaucratic” attitude of officials with a booming “public democracy” on the Internet, in an unusually scathing editorial published in both its English and Chinese versions.
“They (authorities) have become accustomed to only being praised in the past and when facing a crisis, they believe they can deal with the public in a bureaucratic way,” said the paper.
“However, public opinion in China cannot stand this anymore.”
The outspoken comments in the Global Times, part of the same stable as the Communist party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, came a day after reports said Chinese media had been ordered not to question the official line on the crash.
Internet users began raising questions about the disaster soon after it happened on Saturday evening, leaving at least 39 people dead and nearly 200 others injured near the eastern city of Wenzhou.
They have demanded to know why the driver of one of the trains involved -- which careered into another train that had ground to a halt after reportedly losing power due to a lightning strike -- was not told to stop in time.
They also question whether the death toll was higher than authorities have said, why wrecked carriages that plunged off a bridge after the collision were reportedly being buried, and whether the high-speed rail system is being developed too fast.
An online poll conducted on Sina’s popular Twitter-like service, in which more than 35,600 people took part, revealed that 97 percent of respondents did not believe anything the railway ministry’s spokesman had said since the accident.
China’s government has ordered an “urgent overhaul” of the national rail network and said it would pay 500,000 yuan ($78,000) in compensation for each victim.
It has also sacked three senior railway officials. But these moves have failed to assuage public anger in China, where deadly accidents are always met with government pledges to strengthen safety, yet continue to happen.
“Only when the railway ministry takes a lower profile and sincerely apologizes to the public can it eliminate public anger and begin rebuilding its image,” the Global Times editorial said.
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China state paper accuses authorities of ‘arrogance’
AFP News
27 July 2011
One of China’s official newspapers on Wednesday accused the authorities of “arrogance” in their handling of a deadly high-speed train crash, joining a rising chorus of public fury.
The state-run Global Times contrasted the “bureaucratic” attitude of officials with a booming “public democracy” on the Internet, in an unusually scathing editorial published in both its English and Chinese versions.
“They (authorities) have become accustomed to only being praised in the past and when facing a crisis, they believe they can deal with the public in a bureaucratic way,” said the paper.
“However, public opinion in China cannot stand this anymore.”
The outspoken comments in the Global Times, part of the same stable as the Communist party mouthpiece the People’s Daily, came a day after reports said Chinese media had been ordered not to question the official line on the crash.
Internet users began raising questions about the disaster soon after it happened on Saturday evening, leaving at least 39 people dead and nearly 200 others injured near the eastern city of Wenzhou.
They have demanded to know why the driver of one of the trains involved -- which careered into another train that had ground to a halt after reportedly losing power due to a lightning strike -- was not told to stop in time.
They also question whether the death toll was higher than authorities have said, why wrecked carriages that plunged off a bridge after the collision were reportedly being buried, and whether the high-speed rail system is being developed too fast.
An online poll conducted on Sina’s popular Twitter-like service, in which more than 35,600 people took part, revealed that 97 percent of respondents did not believe anything the railway ministry’s spokesman had said since the accident.
China’s government has ordered an “urgent overhaul” of the national rail network and said it would pay 500,000 yuan ($78,000) in compensation for each victim.
It has also sacked three senior railway officials. But these moves have failed to assuage public anger in China, where deadly accidents are always met with government pledges to strengthen safety, yet continue to happen.
“Only when the railway ministry takes a lower profile and sincerely apologizes to the public can it eliminate public anger and begin rebuilding its image,” the Global Times editorial said.
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