CHINA’S PRESIDENT, Hu Jintao, yesterday flew into the western town devastated by an earthquake, pledging swift rebuilding in the predominantly Tibetan area, as the death toll climbed to 1,700.
Chinese state television showed him cradling a young Tibetan survivor and assuring her: “You will have a bright future. Grandpa will be thinking of you.” Hu cut short a trip to South America because of the disaster in Yushu county, Qinghai province. State news agency Xinhua said yesterday that 1,706 have died, with 256 still missing and 12,128 injured.
Prof Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibetan issues at Columbia University in New York, said the government’s brisk handling of the disaster was unprecedented.
Although Yushu was not one of the Tibetan areas of Qinghai which saw unrest in 2008, there have been some signs of underlying tensions since Wednesday’s quake. Many blamed Chinese mining for causing the disaster, while some monks complained they had not been given sufficient credit for their rescue work.
Zou Ming, China’s head of disaster relief, said in Beijing: “The supplies that have been sent are enough to ensure people have shelter, food and water.” But many supplies are still in transit.
Hundreds of lorries carrying everything from earth moving equipment and generators to instant noodles have been making the 560-mile journey from the provincial capital of Xining to the remote area. – (Guardian service)