China’s 2008

It is an Olympic year in Beijing. China has prepared more than four years for this. The conflicts along with the Olympic flam relay reflect some non-harmonious sound around emerging China. Shortly before the Olympic Game, another test just came for China to prove what kind of a country it wants to be – the earth quake.

It was Monday afternoon around 14:30PM. An earth quake attacked Sichuan province (see BBC head news). The capital city, Chengdu, was just within 100 km from the epicenter Wenchuan. Chengdu where my mother lives has little death toll. Surely they felt the strong shakes of the earth. But Wenchuan, Dujian Yan and several counties around have more than 12,000 deaths so far.

From the photos we saw so far, our Chinese colleagues all agreed that the rescue is well organized. The moving of the soldiers has reflected the decision of a communist party – finally a right use of the army. The equipments and the rescue resources are abundant. And people in the epicenter are calm and wealth enough to be calm. Finally, you see a responsible government.

Even though this event, I have the feeling to go back to China and work there. After a complete 10 years out of China, I realized that China is now one of the few most important countries in the world. I may miss the chance to see a changing China if I stay aboard.