Keeping a wary eye on troublemakers
A couple of us foreign reporters were at a middle school earlier today that collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake, killing as many as 600 students.
The four-story middle school is in Juyuan, an outlying area of the city of Dujiangyan. It became the focus of attention because no other buildings in the immediate area crumbled in the May 12 earthquake, leading to charges that it was shoddily constructed.
You can see the area of the collapsed building in the photo. The white stuff on the ground is lime, spread to avoid contamination.
An odd thing happened. The people milling about appeared to be a mix of relief workers, angry parents, Chinese and foreign journalists and others.
At one point, we noticed a man pointing a video camera steadily at us. He then shot images of the parents who were talking to us. When approached, he would only say that he was from Chengdu.
Clearly, he was a security official. The issue of collapsed schools from the earthquake is a sensitive one, and state security is worried that grieving parents will cause trouble over the deaths of their children.
I think you are stretching. Why they were care angry parent talking to you. What kind negative report you can produce by talking to the parents. Chinese official will catch those guys who deliberately to violate building code in order to make money.
By the way do you think human right organizations will protest if those guys are punished by death sentence since they are responsible for thousands & thousands children death
Posted by: LaoLiao | May 21, 2008 at 10:58 PM
"An odd thing happened. The people milling about appeared to be a mix of relief workers, angry parents, Chinese and foreign journalists and others."
I have a feeling that you were like a circling vulture waiting for prey.
Posted by: LBSH | May 21, 2008 at 11:24 PM
"An odd thing happened. The people milling about appeared to be a mix of relief workers, angry parents, Chinese and foreign journalists and others."
I have a feeling that you were like a circling vulture waiting for prey.
Posted by: LBSH | May 21, 2008 at 11:26 PM
Why didn't you take his photo and put it on the blog?
Otherwise, what was the point?
Even from a distance and if he was facing the other way.
He couldn't complain, because he had a video on you.
Posted by: Paul | May 22, 2008 at 01:29 AM
Lay off Tim.
He is doing his job.
They photographed him, but did not stop him.
The security officials are justifiably nervous because of people jumping to conclusions that the building collapses were necessarily caused by corruption and fraud.
How about determining the facts first?
Get the facts, please, Tim.
Posted by: A B | May 22, 2008 at 01:41 AM
You little girly government lovers should man up and accept Tim's observations for what they were..i.e. something that happened. He was there ...you were not..that is what he saw!He does have an ax to grind in this disaster but it appears some of you do as objectivity does not mesh with blind loyalty.
Posted by: Stan | May 22, 2008 at 08:10 AM
Tim, please don't make any offer or advise for the parents who protested. It can only get them into trouble. Be an observer and report what happened. I can't say that every school collapsed is shoddy building. But some do.
Posted by: jeff | May 22, 2008 at 08:53 AM
I'm curious what type of ax you think I have to grind? Also, as a reporter I don't give advice to people I write about. I'm just a journalist (and a brain surgeon on the side. If any of you need brain surgery, I'd be happy to give it a try. Tee hee).
Posted by: Tim J | May 22, 2008 at 01:04 PM
Scary Tim. I hope the parents are able to express their thoughts, and that the investigation is thorough. No parent should get into trouble for demanding answers to why their child died.
Posted by: Eve | May 22, 2008 at 02:12 PM
The other buildings still standing next to the collapsed school would lead a causal observer to ask a rather obvious question.
Imagine local cadres are nervous for good reason.
The emperor in Beijing will need to kill a few chickens to frighten the monkeys.
The local goons and thugs are being proactive, possibly to encourage lips to tighten or keeping a record for later retribution against aggitators or whistle blowers.
How much money intended for schools was pocketed in the TAR, by hooligans.
Eventually there will be an understanding that the incidents in the TAR are due to the same issues as those that resulted in collapsed schools in Sichuan.
Posted by: magistrate dokdo prefecture | May 22, 2008 at 02:52 PM
To me it is so obvious why the gestapo is coming down on reporters (wait, don't they always?). If the CCP restricts peoples rights and freedoms and violates justice, it is because they have something to lose, they have something to gain by restricting people.
It is widely known in China that to have a successful career and privileges, you have to be a party member and collude with the party cadres to move up and expand in business. I think that honesty and fairness are rarities, isolated incidents and the pervading principle in China is corruption and selfishness.
My point is that the party itself is behind many of these kinds of problems, the cadres are directly responsible for all kinds of corruption, so the path of investigation will lead to party corruption in most areas that is why China is a society of lies at this point. The party has built it all on measures to protect itself.
Posted by: carry anne | May 22, 2008 at 03:53 PM
carry anne
Your people in NY had some difficulty time, right? LOL.
Posted by: jeff | May 22, 2008 at 06:59 PM
Tim,
Can you do brain surgery on me if I am uninsured?
On a more serious note....
The government is asking for international donations of tents. I am wondering if there is a better idea.
The USA still have huge inventories of Trailers (both new and used) from Katrina and Rita that are in storage.
Yes, they are 110V and will need transformers to operate.
But, might it be an idea for the US to dispose of some of them as "aid" by sending them to China?
Just an off the wall idea...
Posted by: A B | May 22, 2008 at 09:07 PM
y'know, "carry anne" sounds very much like a notorious someone called "jana": a nutty FLG. Just wondering...
Posted by: bemis | May 23, 2008 at 03:59 AM
bemis,
Look at the website it links to...
Just ignore.
Posted by: A B | May 23, 2008 at 08:53 AM
Jeff, what's so funny about that? (- :
Anyway, you're very keen, yes 'my people' had some trouble recently in New York
Regime could be behind rash of protests against critics, says former CSIS agent
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-5-22/70920.html
It doesn't matter if I sound like Jana (I have heard of her cause she has gone after that nasty bobby fletcher thing) or whoever. My opinions are my opinions, they're not Jana's... so I hope you dont think that if I sound like Jana, it means this or that, cause I don't think it means anything (except maybe she's smart like me, just jokin')
Posted by: carryanne | May 23, 2008 at 10:35 AM
carryanne
It is not funny. People, especially Chinese people, don't celebrate if a member of a family died. It doesn't matter how much you hate the man of that family. It will turn all the families of the neighborhood against you. It against traditional Chinese value. What did you guys celebrate about when so many people died and injured? Can't you guys wait for 7x7 days?
Posted by: jeff | May 23, 2008 at 02:58 PM
Jeff, what are you talking about? When I said "my people" I did not think I was lumping myself with anyone celebrating the earthquake, what is this? When I said "my people" I was referring to an incident where there was a quit CCP booth in Flushing that was mobbed.
That incident was portrayed by the CCP media as something else totally. Of course the CCP will try to do that, they of course do not want any legitimacy for quit CCP movement. But to say that someone is celebrating the earthquake, what tripe is that Jeff?
Posted by: carryanne | May 23, 2008 at 04:28 PM
carryanne
This is what I heard when I was taking a haircut. I don't live in NY.
Are there any CCP here in US, except those stay only a short period here?
Posted by: jeff | May 23, 2008 at 06:43 PM
But I just want to point out that
the earthquake region is where china nuclear head quarter located, so there are many sensitive sites, its like counterpart of US Los Alamos, I am very surprised any reporters(domestic or foreign) are even allowed to report freely in that region. I think any government will be very careful and rightly so. Isn’t it government's job to protect its people, The US mantra is still well and alive with me “we are living in a different age now after 911”. Foreign reports in general are that they looks into china with colored glass. I can not imagine what the tone of the report will be if PLA entered the disaster area fully armed. As a matter of fact in the aftermath of Katrina US police/army are fully armed and there is gun battle between police and the resident. If the same thing happens in China the headline will be PLA kills its own people, suppression, genocide, all the bad word imaginable. That’s what we see in reporting Tibet -- total distortion of truth or purely lies, As a matter of fact Chinese people and government did a fantastic job second to none for the world to see. Anybody want to report why PLA did not enter the area not armed – because people loves their army and the army loves its people. We are not perfect, no one are, its more true as we are developing country with 1.3 billion people, But we reject the west media takes a higher moral ground to us as they are not.
Posted by: jim | May 24, 2008 at 01:34 PM
AB: many thanks for your suggestion, to ignore certain individuals. Checked on carry-anne & all is now clear!
Posted by: bemis | May 25, 2008 at 05:49 PM
"Clearly, he was a security official". Really? Are you a journalist or a CIA agent? Clearly, you are both.
Posted by: Velary Willis | May 25, 2008 at 11:23 PM
"Clearly, he was a security official". Really? Are you a journalist or a CIA agent? Clearly, you are both.
Posted by: Velary Willis | May 25, 2008 at 11:24 PM
"Are there any CCP here in US, except those stay only a short period here?"
The CCP has it's established tentacles in most countries especially the US. Have you heard of the United Front Works department? That means that they have a department devoted to using front organizations around the world to influence other societies towards uniting with the party's desires. My view is that these fronts are made up of people who do not respect truth at all and have something to gain by uniting with this effort. There's too much evidence of spying to mention here, so you can look into it. But what I have heard is that the recent attacks on Falun Gong/Quit CCP in Flushing is that is was orchestrated and even paid for by the Chinese Embassy. In the Epoch Times, it says that the Ambassador rallied the CCP controlled media to cover this attack, then the state influenced/controlled media twisted it to make people think that Falun Gong/Quit CCP are against earthquake victims or some really heinous lie like that in order to protect the party from the truth.
If people in US/overseas do things considered negative toward the CCP, they will not gain certain benefits, they can have ther passport taken away, and their families in China threatened. They can have their university degrees not recognized in China and many unjust things will occur. But I find the main thrust of the CCP united front work is the controlling of media. Maybe your barber heard the false accounts on the radio? So many Chinese media reported on that incident and totally lied about the situation as per the directives of the CCP. That is what the Chinese media do, they follow the party line, which is not the truth.
Posted by: carryanne | May 26, 2008 at 02:03 PM
As for the person who suggested that ignoring me is good because they checked me out, I did nothing wrong. I do not incite hatred, I do not condone violence, I support human rights and justice and truth... So if you want to put a tall pointy hat on me and hang a sign around my neck that says 'reactionary whore" or something evil like that just because I don't love the communist party and I like Falun Gong, you can go ahead, go ahead and ignore me, hate me for my values, but who is the true victim of communism and cultural revolution? Is it me with my pointy hat kneeling on glass, eaten alive? Or is it the fool who is mislead to follow a fury of insanity to torture and hate will all his heart?
You think beating down dissidents gives you face? You think anger makes you strong?
Posted by: carryanne | May 26, 2008 at 02:08 PM