(Video) Hong Kong Magazine Editor Questions Accuracy of China’s Earthquake Death Toll

NTDTV, Via Youtube, May 09, 2009-

Chinese communist authorities have suddenly released last years Sichuan earthquake death toll numbers just days before the one-year anniversary on Tuesday. The announcement also denies that shoddy or tofu construction is to blame for school buildings that collapsed, killing thousands of students and teachers inside.

Ahead of the one year anniversary of last years devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province, communist officials announce that the number of students missing totals 5,335.

But Hong Kong Open Magazine executive editor Cai Yongmei doubts the figure, and she is not alone.

A Reuters news polls suggests it could be closer to 9,000. Other experts say it may actually be closer to 10,000.

[Cai Yongmei, Executive Editor, Open Magazine]:
They manipulate the statistics. When faced with disaster they reduce the figure. They have this tradition.

Ms. Cai says that the Chinese communist regime usually reports the good but not the bad.

[Cai Yongmei, Executive Editor, Open Magazine]:
If the truth was revealed, many officials would lose their jobs, so they will try to protect themselves. How do they protect themselves? They have to completely cover up the whole truth about the tofu construction.

Cai believes that the Chinese Communist Partys denial of poorly built schools will lead to public anger.

[Cai Yongmei, Executive Editor, Open Magazine]:
The Chinese communists blocked it. As the result of the blockage, social conflicts and crises have no way to be vented or resolved. The more it accumulates, the greater the explosion will be in the end.

Hu Liyun works for the International Federation of Journalists and is in charge of Hong Kong and China projects. He says that some foreigner reporters who received clearance to report were blocked from doing so by local authorities.

[Hu Liyun, International Federation of Journalists]:
The problem is some officials and unknown people have been trying to obstruct them. It is necessary to register as a procedure, but they kicked them out before they could even register.

At least 69,000 people died in the disaster.

NTD, Hong Kong.

- From NTDTV on Youtube

China quake parents ‘harassed’

By Michael Bristow , BBC News, 6 May 2009, Beijing -

Parents who lost their children in China’s earthquake fear they will not be allowed to properly commemorate the disaster’s first anniversary.

Many parents want to return to the site of the schools in Sichuan that killed their children when they collapsed.

But the authorities have previously stopped them going to the schools on sensitive occasions, and are said to be monitoring the parents ahead of 12 May.

China has not said how many children were among the 90,000 dead and missing.

The government has admitted that nearly 14,000 schools – some of them poorly or hastily built – were damaged in the magnitude-8 earthquake.

Schools sealed off

One mother, Hu Hongfang, wants to return to Juyuan Middle School to mark the first anniversary of the death of her 15-year-old son Guo Jun.

But she is not hopeful that she will be allowed to get to the collapsed school site, in the city of Dujiangyan in northern Sichuan Province.

“On every occasion parents have wanted to pay their respects to their children, the whole school and nearby area have been sealed off,” she said.

Other parents told the BBC a similar story.

Zhou Siqiang, whose daughter died at the Juyuan school, said parents have been prevented from visiting the site on a number of occasions.

He said they were stopped from going to the site on last month’s Tomb Sweeping Day, when Chinese people traditionally visit family graves.

But he was undeterred. “I think I will join others and go to the school on the first anniversary of the earthquake,” he said.

Across Dujiangyan, parents at another collapsed school detailed some of the methods used by the authorities to prevent them from staging public displays of grief.

These includes stopping them from leaving their homes and taking them away from the city during sensitive times. …… (More from BBC News)

China Quake Zone: Officials Still Harassing Relatives, Arresting Activists, Obstructing Media

Human Rights Watch, May 6, 2009 -

(New York) – The Chinese government should mark the first anniversary of the devastating May 12, 2008, Sichuan earthquake by offering legal redress to surviving relatives, making public all information about quake-related deaths and damages, and dropping onerous requirements for media who want to report from the area, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch urges the Chinese government to allow relatives who lost family in the quake to freely bring lawsuits against those they believe are responsible for allegedly shoddy school construction linked to the deaths of thousands of children in the quake zone.

An estimated 70,000 people died in the May 2008 quake, many of them students whose schools collapsed. Over the past year, some parents have demanded an official inquiry into the buildings’ deficiencies, a completion of DNA testing to identify quake victims, and a complete list of victims’ names and ages. There are parents who have filed lawsuits alleging that faulty construction contributed to the collapse of their children’s schools, but to date no courts have accepted the cases. Not only have many of these parents been harassed, detained, and in some cases kicked or punched by officials and security forces, but the government has also pressured many of the victims’ families to accept one-time compensation payments in exchange for ceasing demands for a public accounting.

“Parents of student quake victims, who are trying to understand how and why their children died, deserve answers and compassion, not threats and abuse,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Persecuting quake victims and their relatives adds cruel insult to already grievous injury.”

Such harassment is occurring despite the Chinese government’s specific pledge in its new National Human Rights Action Plan, published on April 13, to protect the rights of Sichuan quake victims. The National Human Rights Action Plan commits the government to “Respecting earthquake victims (and) registering the names of people who died or disappeared in the earthquake and make them known to the public.” Some victims’ family members suspect that the government is delaying DNA identification and victim list publication for fear that a disproportionate percentage will have been students, and that public demands for accountability will resume.

“The Chinese government should take up this important opportunity to prove it’s serious about delivering on the action plan’s promises to protect the rights of Sichuan earthquake victims,” Richardson said.

In addition to harassing victims’ family members, state security forces have also targeted individuals trying to investigate the possible causes of school collapses or compile lists of quake victims. Those individuals include:

* Huang Qi, a veteran dissident and founder of http://www.64tianwang.com/, a website dedicated to publicizing human rights abuses across China. Huang was detained on June 10, 2008 in Chengdu, while investigating allegations that shoddy construction had contributed to the collapse of schools in the earthquake. He was formally charged with “possessing state secrets” on July 18, 2008, and his trial was indefinitely postponed for undisclosed reasons in February 2009.
* Zeng Hongling, a retired university professor. After posting online critiques of building standards in the Sichuan earthquake zone, Zeng was arrested in May 2008 and faces “subversion” charges.
* Liu Shakun, a teacher. Liu was reportedly arrested and sentenced in August 2008 to one year of “re-education through labor” on the charge of “disseminating rumors and disrupting social order” for posting on-line photographs he had taken of collapsed schools in the Sichuan earthquake zone. Liu was released from a labor camp and allowed to serve the remainder of his sentence outside of custody on September 24, 2008.
* Tan Zuoren, a literary editor and environmentalist. After trying to compile a name list of children killed in the Sichuan earthquake, Tan was detained in March 2009 on suspicion of subversion.

“From the 1976 Tangshan earthquake to the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the Chinese government has repeatedly defaulted to a strategy of obscuring public safety information and persecuting those who try to reveal it,” said Richardson. “Such tactics aren’t just harmful for China, they can be a potential danger to the international community as food safety scandals and outbreaks of communicable diseases can rapidly escalate from local problems to global threats.”

Human Rights Watch said that in the run-up to the one-year anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, some foreign journalists returning to document the region’s reconstruction are also being obstructed by quake zone government officials and security forces.

The Chinese government won justifiable praise in the weeks immediately following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake by allowing foreign media relatively unrestricted access to the disaster zone. However, by mid-April 2008, some foreign correspondents reporting from the quake zone were noting an increase in obstruction and harassment by government officials, state security forces, and plainclothes thugs who appeared to operate at official behest. Such harassment was particularly prevalent if foreign journalists were attempting to interview bereaved parents……. (more details from Human Rights Watch)

China’s change of student quake death toll angers parents

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times, USA, November 21, 2008 -

Reporting from Beijing — Jiang Xujun felt the stab of his daughter’s death all over again today when Chinese officials acknowledged for the first time that 19,000 students perished in May’s deadly earthquake — and then immediately backed off the estimate.

Jiang used his bare hands to dig the body of his 7-year-old daughter, Jiang Yao, from the rubble of her primary school. Since then, he has fought the government for compensation for the death and assistance in finding a new home.

The months have brought only misery. On Friday, Chinese officials added insult to Jiang’s injury.

At a news conference on preparations for the winter in the quake zone, Wei Hong, executive vice governor of Sichuan, gave the student death toll as 19,065 — nearly a quarter of the total death count — a figure that was immediately quoted in stories by Chinese state-run and foreign news services.

Soon, however, an officer from the Sichuan provincial propaganda office said an official translation at the news conference misconstrued Wei’s remarks. He said the 19,065 figure was the total number of earthquake victims who have been identified.

For many, including the angry parents of children who died when their unstable schools collapsed, the about-face spoke volumes of how Chinese officials deal with sensitive revelations: a moment of candor followed by a contradictory reversal.

A Xinhua news agency report of the news conference reported Wei’s original remarks, but a second story on the state-run site claimed his estimate referred to a detailed list of identified dead and not specifically students.

A veteran reporter for the China Youth Daily today said it was still confusing whether Wei inadvertently released the real student death toll number, or was misquoted.

“I don’t know whether it’s true or not,” he said. “I have been to several earthquake zones, and I only know the death toll there, but for an overall death toll, I really have no way to know.”

For months following the 7.9-magnitude quake, officials had declined to offer a precise toll of the number of students who died. The topic has raised the ire of many Sichuan residents who watched schools collapse while other nearby buildings suffered little damage.

“We don’t trust the local government, they are too deceptive,” said Jiang, a 37-year-old former home-renovator. “School buildings are of shoddy construction. I am afraid the real number of dead students is more than 19,000.”

Jiang said the Fuxin No. 2 school where his daughter died was built in 1997. A total of 127 students at the school died in the earthquake, including 27 of the 41 in his daughter’s classroom.

“Other teachers’ office buildings did not collapse,” he said. “The school fence walls did not collapse, even our rural buildings did not collapse, just the [classroom] building collapsed.”

In the face of angry residents, local officials have also tried to quell protests from parents who have demanded an investigation into school construction. Police have been called in to silence rallies and some parents of dead or missing children say they have been either intimidated or even bribed to remain silent.

A local official at the heart of the quake zone killed himself this week, the second such suicide in two months, state media said, another sign of the emotional toll.

On Friday, Wei estimated that 1,300 schools have been rebuilt or are currently under construction. He said 200,000 homes had been rebuilt and another 685,000 dwellings were under reconstruction. Still, 1.94 million households still needed to be rebuilt or repaired, he said.

Jiang is among those waiting for their homes to be repaired.

“The local government did not realize their commitments to us,” he said. “We still have to borrow money from friends and relatives, we have to live our lives. Our [home] is not suitable to live, there are splits, winter is coming. It’s very cold.”

Along with the chill of winter, Jiang shivers over the loss of his little fifth-grader. “At 11:40 a.m., on May 13th, the second day after the quake, I finally dug out my daughter with my own hands,” he said.

The biggest pain comes from seeing the children who survived. “Watching others’ children bounce lively — they are lovely like flowers — it’s painful,” Jiang said.

“My wife suffers much more.”

Glionna is a Times staff writer.

- Los Angeles Times: China’s shifting student death toll from quake angers parents

Detained for earthquake photo posting, China teacher to serve sentence outside of labor camp

Human Rights in China (HRIC), Sep. 26, 2008-

Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned that Liu Shaokun (刘绍坤), who was sentenced to one year of Reeducation-Through-Labor (劳动教养) (RTL) after posting online his photographs of collapsed school buildings in quake-affected areas, was released by the authorities on Wednesday, September 24, to serve his sentence outside the labor camp.

Following Liu’s sentencing in July, HRIC reported his case and urged the Chinese government to release him, which drew the attention of the international community. Liu’s family expressed gratitude to HRIC and the international community for their concern.

“It is absurd that the authorities imposed RTL on Liu merely because he attempted to document the situation in the quake-hit zone,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China. “Accurate and timely information about the earthquake damage is important to both reconstruction efforts and to informed responses to future earthquakes.”

Liu’s family told HRIC that, following the decision of the RTL Committee of Deyang City, Sichuan (四川德阳市劳动教养委员会), Liu returned home around 5 p.m. on September 24. He remains under residential surveillance. The police agreed to return Liu’s computer and other belongings that they confiscated.

Liu Shaokun, a teacher at Guanghan Middle School, Deyang City, Sichuan Province (四川省德阳市广汉中学), traveled to heavily hit areas after the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, took photos of collapsed school buildings, and posted them online. In a media interview, he expressed his anger at “the shoddy ‘tofu’ buildings.” Liu was detained on June 25 at his school.

On July 23, when Liu’s wife went to the Guanghan City Public Security Bureau to pick up a letter from her husband, she was told that Liu was sentenced to one year of RTL for “inciting a disturbance” (煽动闹事). Since then, Liu’s family and Liu’s work unit have been appealing for a sentence “outside the RTL camp” for Liu. On September 12, Liu’s family was told that the RTL Committee of Deyang City had finally approved their application.

As China prepares to host the 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering on October 12–17, 2008, HRIC urges the Chinese authorities to also immediately release Huang Qi and Zeng Hongling, who were both detained by the authorities for reporting activities following the Sichuan earthquake.

- Human Rights in China

Wife of imprisoned cyber dissident Huang Qi appeals to the international community

Reporters Without Borders, 10 September 2008-

Zeng Li

After speaking yesterday with Zeng Li, the wife of imprisoned cyber-dissident Huang Qi, Reporters Without Borders today publishes a transcript of her comments, in which she appeals to the international community and describes his arrest as “unfair and unacceptable.”

Huang has been held since 10 June in Chengdu, the capital of the western province of Sichuan, for posting articles on his website 64Tianwang (www.64tianwang.com) about the humanitarian situation in the province after the 12 May earthquake and how international aid was mismanaged by the local authorities.

“Huang is the victim of the Chinese judicial system’s lack of independence,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The proceedings are not advancing and his family has no choice but to wait until the authorities deign to look at his case. His lawyer’s requests to see him are being denied, he has not been able to get any medical treatment although his health is deteriorating, and no date has been set for his trial. We support his wife’s appeal and we reiterate our call for his release.”

Huang was charged three weeks ago, on 18 July, with “illegal possession of state secrets” but he will not be allowed his first meeting with his lawyer until 18 September.

The following is a transcript of Zeng’s comments (to be heard in Chinese).

“Huang Qi is a cyber-dissident and online journalist who has fought hard in recent years so that the inhabitants of Sichuan can have access to better information. He has exposed the injustices they have suffered, and none of his articles has been disputed by the authorities. During the earthquake, his work helped to improve the humanitarian situation. He did everything he could to get equipment where it was needed and to help transport relief aid. He did what any Chinese citizen would have done.

Huang Qi posted articles on his website that included statements by parents who lost their children when schools collapsed during the earthquake. This is what fueled the anger of the authorities and it was for this reason that he was arrested. He is charged with ‘illegal possession of state secrets.’ It is a totally unfair and unacceptable decision.

Various political leaders and the government have said on several occasions that the human rights situation would improve in China. But the authorities have not kept their promises and they maintain their repressive policies towards freedom of expression. And now they have taken Huang Qi’s freedom of expression away from him. It is absurd.

Huang Qi still has very violent headaches as a result of the mistreatment and torture he underwent the last time he was imprisoned. He is being held in the absence of any valid legal grounds and he is being treated in an inhumane manner that violates the basic principle of human dignity. Within Huang Qi’s family, we worry a lot about his health. Thanks to Reporters Without Borders, we hope this appeal will be heard and diplomatic means will be deployed to end this situation.”

Chronology

1999: Creation of the 64Tianwang website, with the original aim of posting information about people missing in Sichuan province.

2000 – 2005: Huang is arrested on 3 June 2000 and is given a five-year prison sentence on a “subversion” charge for posting articles on his website about the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre that were written by exiled dissidents. He is tortured while held in Nanchong high security prison.

2003: Reporters Without Borders and French journalist Patrick Poivre d’Arvor meet his wife and son in Chengdu (see “I know my husband is innocent” interview ).

2004 : Reporters Without Borders awards Huang its “Cyber-Freedom” prize for defending free expression and human rights online.

2005 : Huang Qi is free

20 May 2008: Huang posts an article on the 64Tianwang site criticising the Chinese media’s coverage of the earthquake: “The reports we are seeing are biased. In reality, it is very difficult for NGOs to deliver food aid. They are obliged to go through government channels. The government is using its propaganda to portray itself as a saviour to little avail. Few citizens trust the government because of the corruptions scandals that already occurred during similar disasters in the past.”

10 June 2008: Huang is arrested by three policemen in Chengdu and is held in the city’s main prison.

10 July 2008: The police confirm to his family that the results of their investigation have been passed to the prosecutor’s office, which now has three months to reach a decision.

18 July 2008: Huang is formally charged with “illegal possession of state secrets” (see the official document).

18 September 2008: Huang will be allowed to see his lawyer, Mo Shaoping, for the first time. All of Mo’s requests to see him have until now been refused.

- Original: Reporters Without Borders

Alert: Another significant earthquake could happen in China, say scientists

Press release, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution , Sep. 10, 2008-

Scientists say nearby faults now twice as likely to produce strong quakes

Researchers analyzing the May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China’s Sichuan province have found that geological stress has significantly increased on three major fault systems in the region. The magnitude 7.9 quake on May 12 has brought several nearby faults closer to failure and could trigger another major earthquake in the region.

Geophysicists used computer models to calculate the changes in stress along the Xianshuihe, Kunlun, and Min Jiang faults—strike-slip faults like the San Andreas—which lie about 150 to 450 kilometers (90 to 280 miles) from the Longmen Shan rupture that caused the devastating quake. The research team also examined seismic activity in the region over the past decade.

They found that the May 12 event has doubled the probabilities of future earthquakes on these fault lines. Specifically, they estimated the probability of another earthquake of magnitude 6 or greater in the region is 57 to 71 percent over the next decade. There is an 8 to 12 percent chance of a quake larger than magnitude 7 in the next decade and 23-31 percent in the next 30 years.

The research team was led by Shinji Toda of the Geological Survey of Japan, and includes Jian Lin of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Mustapha Meghraoui of the Institute of Geophysics in Strasbourg (France), and Ross Stein of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Their findings were published September 9 in the online edition of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

“One great earthquake seems to make the next one more likely, not less,” said Stein, who has been collaborating with Lin and Toda for nearly two decades. “We tend to think of earthquakes as relieving stress on a fault. That may be true for the one that ruptured, but not for the adjacent faults.”

In 1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Izmit, Turkey, was followed four months later by an M7.1 event in nearby Duzce. The devastating December 2004 Sumatra earthquake (M9.2) and tsunami were followed by an M8.7 quake three months later.

“Because the Tibetan Plateau is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, we believe there is credible evidence for a new major quake in this region,” said Lin, a senior scientist in WHOI’s Department of Geology and Geophysics. “The research community cannot forecast the timing of earthquakes, and there are still significant uncertainties in our models. But the Turkey and Sumatra events indicate that one major earthquake can indeed promote another.

Researchers see it as a domino-like effect, where the movement of one piece of Earth’s crust means that another piece must move up, down, or away. While the stress in the crust gets reduced in some locations, it is transferred to other faults nearby.

Large aftershocks that occurred on August 1 and 5 in the Sichuan region of China may fit with this predicted pattern.

“Earthquake prediction is a bit like the thundercloud and lightning,” Toda explained. “We can forecast that lightning will come from a thundercloud, but we cannot predict the exact time and place where the lightning will hit. With earthquakes, we can roughly forecast the probability of activity over broad ranges of time, magnitude, and location, but we cannot determine the exact value for any of these.”

On May 12, 2008, about 300 kilometers of the Longmen Shan fault zone ruptured in an earthquake that killed at least 69,000 people and left another 5 million homeless. It was the deadliest and strongest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan earthquake, which killed at least 240,000.

As pieces of the Longman Shan fault slipped by as much as nine meters (28 feet) in the May quake, stress increased along the neighboring Xianshuihe, Kunlun, and Min Jiang faults, according to Toda and colleagues. All three faults have a history of large quakes, though portions of each have been quiet for most of the past century. All three faults were considered to be primed for an earthquake even before the recent events.

In addition to the broad prediction of earthquake triggering, the researchers have also forecasted the rate and distribution of seismic shocks greater than magnitude 6, a prediction that they plan to test from seismic stations over the next decade.

“Our paper predicts the change in the rate of small earthquakes for the faults in the region, and now we can test that prediction,” said Stein. “If the rate of shocks increases on the adjacent faults, then we can confirm at least part of our hypothesis that large shocks are also more likely. It may take time, but it is a testable hypothesis.”

In western China, the intrusion of the Indian sub-continent pushes the Tibetan Plateau up and over the older Sichuan Basin and other parts of the Eurasian continent. An estimated 33 percent of world’s continental earthquakes occur in China, even though it only occupies 7 percent of the planet’s land mass. Nearly 55 percent of all human loss to earthquakes occurs in China.

“Earthquakes do not kill people, buildings do,” said Lin, who was a high school student in China when the devastating Tangshan earthquake struck. “There needs to be widespread education in earthquake preparedness, as well as systematic inspection of buildings in these regions of heightened risk. Every new building inspection and evacuation plan could potentially save lives.”

“We hope the long-term forecasting allows the Chinese government to make it a priority to mitigate future damage,” Toda added. “We recommend that Chinese scientists carefully observe changes in seismicity by installing new seismometers in the region.”

Lin, Toda, and Stein were preparing to teach an earthquake modeling course to Meghraoui’s students and colleagues in France when the May 12 earthquake occurred. The researchers immediately went into action, working with an international group of scientists to analyze the new stresses on the system.

An early version of the manuscript by Toda et al was circulated to several dozen Chinese scientists and government officials as they sought to assess the risk of aftershocks in the weeks after the earthquake. Chinese government organizations and scientists are now examining the paper in detail.

“The recent quake reminded us that Earth scientists have a tremendous responsibility to work on issues of societal relevance,” said Lin. “We don’t want to create panic, but there is legitimate cause for concern and we have a major role to play in educating the public about what we know.”

- Original: May 2008 earthquake in China could be followed by another significant rupture, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

China building rush may have led to weak quake schools: govt

AFP, Sep. 4, 2008-

BEIJING (AFP) — Schools that collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake may have been substandard structures hastily built in a construction frenzy, China conceded Thursday, as it said the death toll could top 87,000.

Ma Zongjin, director of the expert committee on the May disaster, said schools could have collapsed because their “structure was not necessarily up to standard,” and “the material was not necessarily very strong.”

“Because recently, we have built schools quite rapidly, and there could be some construction problems,” Ma told reporters.

Around 7,000 schools collapsed in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China on May 12, often as neighbouring buildings stood intact, leading to the death of thousands of children and causing huge anger among grieving parents.

In one school alone, more than 1,300 children and teachers died or went missing.

Many angry parents are blaming poorly constructed buildings — and corruption they allege saw funds and materials siphoned off — leaving schools to be built off what they call “tofu dregs.”

More than 2,000 experts went to the quake zone to examine the issue, Ma said, and the government has promised investigations into the design of schools, and punishment for those found guilty of shoddy building work.

Authorities have not revealed exactly how many children died in the earthquake, and an official refused to answer the question on Thursday.

“Detailed data has still not been approved, we will announce it when it is approved, so now we only have data on the number of dead, missing and injured,” Shi Peijun, deputy director of the committee, said.

Shi also indicated a revised official death toll could be announced shortly.

Premier Wen Jiabao was reported by state press on Wednesday as saying that the number of dead was more than 80,000, a dramatic increase from the official toll of 69,226 dead and 17,923 missing.

“We believe that the chances that those missing are still alive are slim, and if you put over 69,000 dead and 18,000 missing together, it adds up to more than 87,000 people,” Shi said.

He said the State Council and the Disaster Relief Headquarters would soon announce a new official death toll.

- Original: AFP

Reality Check: Back to School After Southwest China Earthquake

By Wen Hua, Epoch Times Staff Sep 3, 2008-

September 4 marks 113th day since the devastating Sichuan earthquake. It also marked the back-to-school day in mainland China, and also the day China started to lift its nine-year compulsory education fee. While 11,687 schools are in need of reconstruction and the exact casualties from the collapsed school buildings remain unannounced, Sichuan local schools are required to continue charging tuition fees.

Authorities Hid School Casualties

On Sept. 1, Premier Wen Jiabao attended the opening ceremony of the temporary site of Beichuan Middle School, one of hardest hit schools by the May 12 earthquake. According to the regime’s state run media, this is Wen’s fourth visit to Beichuan Middle School but the exact school casualties due to the earthquake were not mentioned. There were originally 47 classes at the school, with 2793 students and 197 staff members. With more than 50 students a class on average, it was learned that only one or two students survived the earthquake in some classes.

On an Aug. 31 news release, the 44th by local Sichuan authorities about the Wenchuan earthquake, the Director of the Sichuan Provincial Office of Education, Tu Wentao, reported that 4,675 schools were damaged, and 3,339 schools require reconstruction in the hardest hit areas. In Sichuan Province, a total of 13,768 schools were damaged and 11,687 schools are in need of reconstruction, but no earthquake school casualties were mentioned.

School Zone Charges Tuition Despite State Policies

On Sept. 1, Chinese authorities also cancelled the tuition and fees for the nation nine-year compulsory education act that was already in effect for the rural region. An estimated 25,900 urban schools and 28.21 million students should benefit from this move. This means that the Chinese government would fulfill Wen Jiabao’s call for building a “free compulsory education both rural and urban”.

However the same day, the Epoch Times learned from a reader’s letter saying, “Premier Wen visited Mianzhu at around 3 p.m. today. What he did not know is that the Mianzhu Middle School is still charging a tuition fee of 1,100 yuan. Nanxuan Middle School is charging between 550 to 1,100 yuan per student. If the parents rejected this, they would be told to go home and say that no registration is granted without fee.”

Aftermath

According to numerous overseas media reports, a number of earthquake experts have warned the Chinese regime about the earthquake and its geographical locations. The authority hid the forecast to maintain so-called “Pre-Olympic stability.” During the rescue, the Chinese military’s efficiency and their competence were seriously criticized. Many victims died because the regime refused foreign rescue teams during the prime rescue time which is the first 72 hours after the earthquake. The May 12 earthquake claimed more than 69,000 people with nearly 18,000 still missing.

It was also learned that many relief funds went into personal accounts. For instance, Mianzhu City People’s Hospital acquired $25 million for reconstruction. The money went into the contractor’s personal account before the construction team arrived. The money was later luckily retrieved due to an early discovery.

Local governments and the department of education have made a  so-called “self-investigation” to find the responsibility for the huge number of student casualties. This was criticized by local residents that this is not in compliance with a formal investigation procedure, and that the transparency and openness of the investigation are questionable.

- Original: Back to School After Sichuan Earthquake: Reality Check, The Epochtimes

China: School Teacher Sent to Labor Camp For Posting Earthquake Photos On Internet

Human Rights in China, July 29, 2008-

Human Rights in China has learned that Liu Shaokun (刘绍坤), a Sichuan school teacher who photographed collapsed school buildings in quake-affected areas and posted his pictures online, has been ordered to serve one year of Reeducation-Through-Labor (劳动教养) (RTL). Despite making several attempts, Liu’s family has not been allowed to see him since he was detained on June 25 this year. Though authorities told the family they could see him on July 29, they were again denied a visit.

“Instead of investigating and pursuing accountability for shoddy and dangerous school buildings, the authorities are resorting to RTL to silence and lock up concerned citizens like teacher Liu Shaokun and others,” said Human Rights in China Executive Director Sharon Hom. “These actions further undermine human rights and the ‘peaceful Olympics’ called for by the authorities, and reflect an irresponsible callousness towards the Sichuan earthquake victims and parents of the thousands of children killed by collapsed school buildings.”

Liu, a teacher at Guanghan Middle School, Deyang City, Sichuan Province (四川省德阳市广汉中学), traveled to heavily hit areas after the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, took photos of collapsed school buildings, and put them online. In a media interview, he expressed his anger at “the shoddy ‘tofu’ buildings.” Liu was detained on June 25 at his school. At the time, authorities informed his school’s principal that Liu was being held for “disseminating rumors and destroying social order.” Authorities later told Liu’s family that he was being investigated on “suspicion of the crime of inciting subversion.” (煽动颠覆国家政权) However, the family did not receive formal notification for his detention as required under Chinese law.

On July 23, 28 days after his detention, Liu’s wife was informed that there was a letter from her husband to pick up at the Guanghan City Public Security Bureau. When she arrived, she was given a “Reeducation-Through-Labor Notice” (劳动教养通知书), which had Liu’s signature and fingerprints, but not the length of time he would serve. After Liu’s wife demanded to know how and why he was placed in RTL, she was told that Liu would serve one year for “inciting a disturbance.” (煽动闹事)

Under RTL regulations, public security authorities may issue an order to anyone to serve up to four years of RTL without trial or formal charge.

- Original: Press Release: Family Visits Still Denied to Sichuan School Teacher Punished after Quake-Zone Visit, Human Rights in China, July 29, 2008

6.1 Magnitude Quake Hits China Sichuan

By Li Xun, Epoch Times Staff Aug 1, 2008-

A quake with a magnitude of 6.1 on the Ritcher Scale hit Sichuan Province at 4.32 p.m. on August 1. The epicenter was located at the border between Pingwu County and Mianyang City, Beichuan County. Other cities that felt the earthquake included Chengdu, Xi’an, and Mianyang as well as Wenchuan and Dujiangyan, which were affected by the Sichuan earthquake in May.

According to the China’s Earthquake Network Center, the earthquake depth was about 20 kilometers. The tremor cut communication lines at the epicenter for about two hours. At least 231 casualties were reported, according to Xinhua News Agency.

A resident with last name, Zhou, from Wenchuan told The Epoch Times that he felt a powerful shake. He wanted to learn about the situation in Pingwu County but could not find any related reports.

It is reported that the Olympic torch will visit Sichuan Province around August 3-5 before arriving in Beijing for the inauguration on August 8th.

- Original: The Epochtimes

China’s disturbing new regulations prior to Olympic Games, increased control in quake

Reporters Without Borders, 10 June 2008-

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the introduction of new rules aimed at reinforcing controls over Chinese “fixers” working for foreign journalists and over all foreigners visiting China during the Olympic Games. The organisation also condemns an increase in police controls of foreign journalists trying to cover protests by parents whose children were killed when schools collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake.

“Any hope of seeing China calmly open up ahead of the Olympic Games is gradually vanishing,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The authorities have introduced regulations hostile to foreigners, who are suspected of wanting to disrupt the games, and are trying to impose greater controls on Chinese citizens working for foreign reporters. And, on the Propaganda Department’s initiative, the government is restricting the work of the Chinese and international press in Sichuan.”

“These measures, just two months ahead of the inauguration of the Beijing games, are bordering on paranoia and are a long way from the One World, One Dream slogan. We urge the International Olympic Committee to put pressure on the government to rescind some of these provisions and to ensure that the international press can work freely in Sichuan.”

Reporters Without Borders added: “So far, the IOC has not reacted to these archaic regulations, preferring to issue a memo in May reminding national Olympic committees that their athletes should under no circumstances demonstrate at Olympic sites.”

Control of Chinese fixers

Chinese citizens working for foreign news media must now comply with new rules designed to get them to register with the authorities. Reporters Without Borders has obtained a copy of the new rules, which were distributed by the CIECCO, a state entity that is supposed to help foreign companies, including news media, to find Chinese employees.

The Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) has been insisting since January 2007 that the foreign media recruit professionals chosen by official intermediaries as translators. The latest rules want all Chinese working for the foreign media to be registered and suggest that the authorities should “select and name appropriate candidates” for the foreign media.

If foreign journalists want to propose their own candidates, they must provide an ID, a curriculum vitae, evidence of no criminal record and a medical certificate. And a contract must be signed between employer and employee.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China told Reporters Without Borders that “hiring and registering assistants through government service agencies potentially increases bureaucracy, expense and oversight by the authorities.” The FCCC hopes the foreign media will eventually be able to hire Chinese as journalists, photographers or cameramen, but for the time being that is not allowed.

Reporters Without Borders has also learned of a directive issued by the BOCOG media centre’s visa division telling journalists to submit precise information about coverage plans in China, including the places they want to visit and the people they want to interview, in order to obtain a J-2 visa, which is for media personnel who want to arrive before the 8 August start of the games. The BOCOG also requires a letter from an employer, which effectively eliminates freelancers.

These new provisions come at a time when the issuing of multiple-entry visas is being restricted and obtaining tourist or business visas is taking much longer, even through Hong Kong. The government refuses to explain this tougher policy, which seems to be linked to fear of demonstrations during the games.

Call to order for foreigners

The BOCOG issued a set of guidelines for foreigners visiting the games on 2 June. In a question-and-answer format and so far only in Chinese, the guidelines tell foreigners they “must respect Chinese laws while in China and must not harm China’s national security or damage the social order.”

They say “terrorists,” sex workers, drug traffickers, people suffering from AIDS or tuberculosis and “subversives” are banned from entering China. Some of the guidelines directly target those who would like to demonstrate during the games. “Public gatherings, marches and demonstrations cannot take place without prior permission from the police.” They also restrict freedom of opinion, forbidding foreigners from bringing with them documents, disks or audio recordings critical of China.

Media obstructed in Sichuan

Because of the anger of the parents of children killed in schools in Sichuan, the authorities have tended to obstruct the work of the foreign media in the province. On 6 June, two Agence France-Presse journalists were prevented from entered Wufu, a city where demonstrations took place after a primary school collapsed.

Foreign reporters were briefly detained and expelled on 5 June from Juyuan and Hanwang, two towns where schools collapsed. Photographers were removed from a demonstration by about 100 parents in Dujiangyan on 3 June, and a reporter and photographer from the Japanese news agency Kyodo were detained for several hours. According to the FCCC, two Dutch journalists were stopped by the police when they tried to go to Dujiangyan.

The Chinese press has been forbidden to cover the collapsed schools story freely. Chinese journalists told the New York Times that the order came from Beijing. The website of the Hong Kong-based China Media Project (http://cmp.hku.hk/) reported that the Guangdong province Communist Party’s propaganda ordered the local media to pull their journalists out of Sichuan. The site also reported that Li Changchun, the Communist Party’s propaganda chief, went to Sichuan.

The public security department has been told to put a stop to the “illegal gatherings” and to pressure the families of victims to stop talking to the foreign press. State media propaganda continues to praise the government’s efforts. State-owned CCTV’s website even went so far as to portray a demonstration in homage to the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 4 June 1989 as a homage to the victims of the 12 May earthquake.

Finally, BOCOG intransigence on security issues is giving rise to tension with international TV stations that acquired broadcasting rights. The Associated Press reported on 8 June that there were angry tensions at a meeting in Beijing at the end of May between the BOCOG, the IOC and international TV stations over China’s refusal to permit live coverage of events in certain places such as Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and delays in granting permission for broadcast equipment.

- Original from Reporters Without Borders: Disturbing new regulations prior to Olympic Games, increased control in Sichuan

China Cracks Down on Earthquake Protest, 100 Grieving Parents Dragged Away

Tania Branigan in Beijing, guardian.co.uk, Tuesday June 3 2008-

Chinese police dragged away more than 100 parents as they protested today over the deaths of their children in schools which collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake.

Officers in Dujiangyan bundled away sobbing mothers clutching pictures of their sons and daughters, according to the Japanese news agency in Kyodo.

The Associated Press said the parents were kneeling in front of the courthouse yelling “We want to sue”, when police began to pull them down the street. Their children were among the 270 students who died at Juyuan school.

As many as 9,000 pupils and teachers died in schools destroyed in the disaster, according to figures compiled by Reuters. The government’s promise to investigate whether substandard building linked to corruption was to blame has yet to allay families’ outrage and wider public concern.

The incident is thought to be the first sustained attempt to halt or disrupt widespread demonstrations by families angry at their children’s deaths. At least one other protest appears to have taken place in Sichuan today – although at the ruins of a school, rather than the more prominent location chosen by the Juyuan parents.

A senior Chinese leader, Li Changchun, was touring other parts of Dujiangyan today.

The local police did not answer calls and the information department twice refused to take calls from the Guardian.

An official from the local government, Zao Ming, told AP: “This is not a good place to do interviews. … In a disaster like this, there will be a lot of opinions. The government will solve their problems.”

AP said its reporter and two photographers covering the protest were dragged into the courthouse by police trying to prevent them from seeing the demonstration. They were held inside, along with two Japanese reporters, and questioned for half an hour before they were permitted to leave.

A witness quoted by AP said police told parents: “The Japanese are reporting bad things about you.” …… (more details from The Guardian: Chinese police break up protest of grieving parents)

(photo) China ignored quake warnings, provincial chief fell on knees to pleads with the protesting parents

Michael Sheridan in Mianzhu, China, The Times Online, UK, June 1, 2008-

Mianzhu, China- Chinese officials ignored warnings from five eminent seismologists that a strong earthquake would strike the mountainous province of Sichuan this year, including one forecast that almost exactly predicted the date of the tremor that killed more than 68,000 people.

The government appeared to be trying to suppress evidence of the warnings last week and none of the seismologists could be traced for an interview.

News of the warnings, disclosed on a Chinese scientist’s blog, has created a storm of criticism on the internet and deepened the rage of bereaved parents in ruined towns such as Mianzhu, where schools had collapsed on their pupils.

Sichuan journalists even dared to question the head of the State Earthquake Bureau. They demanded to know if it was true that the forecasts were dismissed because officials did not want anything to disturb preparations for the Olympic torch relay to pass through this month.

The journalists got no answer and there has since been little mention of the warnings in the official media; but there is no doubt that the documents cited are authentic.

The first forecast came in a highly technical article published by four seismologists in September 2006 in China’s Journal of Catastrophology.

The four, Long Xiaoxia, Yan Junping, Sun Hu and Wang Zuzheng, calculated that stress factors along the Sichuan-Tibet tectonic fault indicated that a quake measuring above 6.7 on the Richter scale would strike this year. They suggested the government should set up emergency headquarters and organise local disaster teams to train city dwellers and farmers in how to protect themselves.

There is no evidence anything was done. But the seismologists were not available to explain why. “You’re a journalist?” said an official at their university, contacted by telephone. “They are not supposed to accept any interviews, so just give up the idea.”

The fifth expert to issue a warning is said to be in seclusion, afflicted by heartache over the loss of so many children. Geng Qingguo, a renowned seismologist, had come out of retirement to present his dire predictions to a meeting of specialists on April 26 and 27.

Geng outlined his calculations that an earthquake of more than 7 on the Richter scale would occur along the boundaries of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces. He even predicted that the most likely date would be within 10 days of May 8.

The scientist dispatched a copy of his findings to the State Earthquake Bureau in Beijing on April 30. Once again, nothing seems to have been done.

The quake struck with a Richter scale force of 7.9 on May 12.

None of this would be known but for the fact that one of Geng’s colleagues, Li Shihui of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, disclosed the whole story in his blog after the earthquake.

“His opinion was not accepted by the State Earthquake Bureau,” Li wrote, “and when he heard of the Sichuan earthquake he tried to cry, yet no tears would come, so heavy was his heart.”

Neither Li nor Geng is now available for comment, as the public anger intensifies. Access to the blog has been blocked by web censors.

“Yes, Dr Li used to be a researcher in our laboratory,” confirmed a woman official at the academy. “After the earthquake he published some articles that caused a big argument. But he has retired and we do not have his phone number. That is all I can tell you.”

Li’s rapid retirement appears to have come after the publication of an article detailing his blog and both sets of warnings by a veteran journalist, Ching Cheong, the chief China correspondent for The Straits Times of Singapore. “We do not know why the authorities chose not to act,” said Ching. “Some attributed it to the Olympics frenzy.”

Ching’s story was translated into Chinese and circulated on the internet, setting off a fire-storm of abuse from citizens.

It hurt most of all in places such as Mianzhu, where the Communist party secretary, Jiang Guohua, fell on his knees before anguished parents to implore them to abandon a protest march last week. Their children were among an estimated 9,000 to die when poorly built schools collapsed on them.

(photo: Jiang Guohua, the communist chief in Mianzhu, pleads with the protesting parents of children buried when their school collapsed/ from Times Online)

Mianzhu is populated by thousands of people living in tents among the ruins of its buildings. “A hundred people died in there,” said a local woman, Zhang Bing, 23, pointing to a bulldozer that gnawed at the rubble of a supermarket on the main square, where several bodies still lay entombed.

On one level the city of 500,000 exemplified the virtuous storyline that now appears mandatory for the state media. Nobody sat listless or idle in Mianzhu. Its citizens manifested the entrepreneurial resilience of the Chinese people. Shopkeepers busily erected stalls to peddle wares hauled from their wrecked premises. Families organised themselves to keep tents clean and neat.

An orderly queue formed to collect free hot rice, supplemented by meat and vegetables cooked by individuals. There had been not one instance of looting, people said.

Corporate China has piled in to the rescue alongside the state. China Mobile set up relay dishes and sold cheap mobile phones. Banks dispensed cash. China Post was even sorting the mail at an improvised outdoor centre.

On the outskirts of town, at least 20,000 souls congregated in a tent camp supervised by the People’s Liberation Army. It included an outdoor hospital where doctors and nurses continue to toil over broken bones and sickly old folk.

However, on another level Mianzhu could become a barometer of public opinion, as the initial shock or relief give way to more complex feelings.

Jiang, the local party secretary, explained the risks in a frank interview with China’s Nanfang Weekend newspaper. “At first I relied on my rank as party secretary to request those parents not to go to the streets with their protests,” he said. “But they turned a deaf ear to me and even the police couldn’t stop them.

“So I got on my knees, not because I was ashamed but because I was thinking of the hundreds of thousands of people in this city who are homeless, short of clothes and food, so that any protest like this could cause mass unrest. That’s been my biggest worry since the earthquake.”

Undaunted, the parents are discussing a march to Chengdu, the provincial capital. They have been banned from travelling on buses by the party secretary. One of them, Li Yan, said: “He’s always lied to us and tried to cover up the real situation.”

- Original from Times Online: Chinese officials ignored quake warnings

China: 100 unidentified radioactive sources to move below quake lake

AFP, May 30, 2008-

DUJIANGYAN, China (AFP) — China rushed Friday to remove radioactive and chemical materials sitting downstream from a “quake lake” that threatens to burst and send torrents of water into heavily populated areas.

Nearly 100 unidentified radioactive sources were ordered to be removed by Friday evening from the path of the potential torrent of water, state press reported, citing the nation’s environmental protection bureau.

“Moving those radioactive sources has become a top, urgent priority,” the Beijing Times quoted Ma Ning, a senior regional official at the bureau, as saying.

The directive to move the radioactive material came as authorities were already working to relocate about 5,000 tonnes of dangerous chemicals that were downstream of the lake at Tangjiashan.

Dealing with the “quake lake” has become one of the key challenges in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake that devastated large tracts of mountainous Sichuan province, killing more than 68,500 people.

The lake was created when landslides triggered by the quake created a dam across a river in a valley.

Helicopters have been used to airlift supplies to hundreds of soldiers working to create a channel that can drain the lake, which contains enough water to fill over 50,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.

After three days of non-stop efforts, the soldiers had dug a 50-metre (164-foot) wide channel 300 metres long, but despite the frantic pace the work would not be completed until next Thursday, the state-run China Daily reported.

More than a million people risk being affected if the Tanjiashan lake empties onto towns and villages downstream, and many residents have been doing regular drills to move quickly to higher ground.

By Saturday morning, close to 200,000 people were expected to have been evacuated from the area, the state-run China International Radio said Friday evening.

However, it was not the only area of Sichuan at risk. There were 33 other lakes created by the quake, 28 of which were at risk of bursting, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Other unexpected dangers also continued to arise amid the massive task of looking after the 15 million people made homeless in the quake.

Gas from a chemical fire in Leigu town, near the epicentre of the quake, poisoned four people and forced more than 800 to evacuate on Thursday, Xinhua reported, citing a local official.

The fire occurred when bleach powder, used as a disinfectant, self-ignited when it reacted with leaked rainwater, said Song Ming, Communist Party secretary for Beichuan county, one of the worst-hit areas.

The dense chlorine gas poisoned two rescue soldiers and two medical workers, who were taken to hospital, according to Xinhua.

No one was available at the environmental protection bureau on Friday to comment on the report about the radioactive sources that were being cleared.

But previous reports in the state press said these sources could emanate from machines used to test defects in the construction of bridges or boats, or from X-ray machines.

There were also several nuclear installations not used for electricity generation in areas near the epicentre of the quake, according to the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) in France.

These included a manufacturing site for nuclear weapons, as well as a nuclear reactor.

The government said last week that nuclear facilities and radioactive sites in Sichuan province were “safe and controllable.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said late Friday that authorities had dispatched thousands of people to inspect businesses in quake-hit areas, finding some with possible environmental risks.

Of 14,357 companies, including some 2,900 chemical firms, surveyed in Sichuan province, inspectors found 134 potential risks, Xinhua news agency said, quoting a statement on the ministry’s website on Friday.

Nearly 30 of the potential risks had been dealt with.

The ministry also said the province’s environmental quality remained stable and water was acceptable for drinking.

The death toll from the quake has reached 68,558, with another 18,618 missing, the government said Friday. Some 15 million people have been displaced in the disaster.

- Afp: China rushes to clear radioactive materials below quake lake

China Experts Predicted the Earthquake Three Times

By Zhu Jianguo, The Epoch Times, May 23, 2008-

Was there any prediction of the recent earthquake in China? The person in charge of the China Seismological Bureau told the media, “They did not receive any prediction, it is impossible to predict earthquakes.” However, Chen Yiwen, an advisor of the Committee of Natural Hazard Prediction (CNHP) said, “This is a lie.”

Chen stated on a China Central Television (CCTV) program, “China Seismological Bureau cannot shake off its responsibility for the earthquake.”

At about 3:00 p.m. on May 18, 2008, Chen explained to The Epoch Times the related background in a phone interview, and then forwarded a simple memorandum through email.

(photo: Chen Yiwen, an advisor of the Committee of Natural Hazard Prediction / Zhu Jiangua/The Epoch Times)

On May 14, 2008, Chinese Central TV Station Channel Nine (CCTV9) held a talk show about the Wenchuan earthquake. The program host Yang Rui interviewed Chen by phone during the program.

Chen commented, “The China Seismological Bureau cannot shake its responsibility!” The CNHP has offered the China Seismological Bureau predictions on three different occasions about the possibility of a strong earthquake in the Wenchuan area since 2006. Especially on May 3, 2008, Chen personally sent the prediction report to the China Seismological Bureau.”

Serious Predictions Received No Consideration

According to Chen, there have been other scientists also providing predictions of strong quakes in the Wenchuan area to the China Seismological Bureau. However, these serious scientific predictions received no consideration. The leaders of the China Seismological Bureau and the director of the Institute of Earthquake Prediction have never interviewed experts of CNHP. They have never acquainted themselves with its earthquake prediction work.

“It is a lie that the leaders of the China Seismological Bureau claimed that they’ve never received any predictions,” said Chen.

Although Chen’s interview was removed when the program was rebroadcast in the evening, the afternoon interview was broadcast live. So the information revealed by Chen has been exposed to the world through CCTV.

Chen added that the locational variance between the actual epicenter and their prediction is only one degree in longitude. Chen welcomes all media and websites to reprint his views from the website http://cheniwan.sea3000.net .

Distinguished Researchers

It is said that the CNHP has a group of well-known experts who accurately forecasted the Tangshan earthquake in 1976, such as professor Guo Zengjian, Wang Chengmin, Qiang Zuji, and Geng Qingguo, vice researcher Huang Xiangning, researcher Xu Daoyi, Xu Haomin, Zhang Wanghou, Zeng Xiaoping, Qian Fuye, and Zhao Yulin, and earthquake prediction expert, Sun Wei, to name a few.

- Original report from The Epochtimes: Chinese Experts Predicted the Earthquake Three Times

Canada earthquake rescuers heading back to China after refused entry for one week

The Canadian Press, Canada, May. 20, 2008-

RED DEER, Alta. — Members of a determined Canadian rescue team plan to return to China after initially being refused permission to enter the area devastated by a massive earthquake.

Jet-lagged and disappointed, the searchers from Alberta returned home from Hong Kong late Monday after waiting for a week because they couldn’t get the necessary visas to travel to the stricken Sichuan province.

Less than 12 hours later, leader Marcel Schur was told that Chinese officials have cleared up bureaucratic red tape and his team is free to travel to Sichuan to help look for survivors of the quake, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

“We are waiting for confirmation, but the Chinese government has given us permission and has asked for us to come back there and join in the effort,” Schur said Tuesday.

“For us to be sure that we are going to be allowed in, we are going to ask for the visas to be issued in Calgary.”

Dealing with Chinese officials last week was frustrating for the five men and three women on the team, who pay most of their own operating and travel expenses.

Schur said it was hard to watch news reports on television about all the death and destruction as the Canadian searchers waited in vain for credentials. Officials estimate the quake destroyed the homes of five million people.

“It was crazy. Everywhere you went they threw another loophole: ‘You have to do this now. You have to do that,”‘ he said.

“It was pretty tough. Your hearts are just bleeding for these people.”

The Canadian and British consulates finally advised the rescuers that the Chinese government was too bogged down to help, so they decided to leave.

Schur and his colleagues are members of the Canadian Rescue Team, part of a larger group called American Rescue Team International.

Doug Copp, a spokesman for the American organization, said the bureaucratic logjam also prompted a British rescue team to head back to the United Kingdom.

Copp said team members have specialized training in what he called urban heavy rescue. Once in China they will be deployed wherever the need is greatest.

“We will do whatever it takes in order to save those children’s lives,” Copp said……. (more details from The Canadian Press: Canadian rescuers heading back to China after refused entry to earthquake zone)

China’s Grieving Quake Parents Voice Anger

By Chris Buckley, Reuters, May 20, 2008-

JUYUAN, China (Reuters) – Zhao Deqin keeps a kerbside memorial to her twin daughters killed when their school collapsed in China’s earthquake, and a petition-signing site alongside that has become a focus of protest by grieving parents.

The most lamented victims of the quake that shattered parts of Sichuan province in southwest China eight days ago have been the thousands of children killed when school buildings collapsed.

The fragility of schools that crumpled into bloody piles has aroused widespread claims that corruption had fatally compromised building strength. Now Zhao and many other parents left grieving by one notorious collapse, at Juyuan town, have launched meetings and petitions to demand redress.

As the ruling Communist Party seeks to maintain a staunch front of unity and stability after the quake, the incipient protests by parents could be troublesome, for many of them blame official graft and laxity, more than nature, for the deaths.

“We want a memorial day for the children, but we also want criminal prosecution of those responsible, no matter who they are,” said Zhao, 44, as she lit incense on the shrine featuring a photo of her two girls clutching a Snoopy doll.

“How come all the houses didn’t fall down, but the school did? And how come that happened in so many places?”

The memorial down a quake-battered alley in this small town also displayed fruit, white paper mourning flowers, and a small bag of powdery concrete taken from the school.

“This will be evidence at a trial. This is what killed them,” said Zhao, tapping the bag. Her ruined shop stood behind the shrine.

SEEKING PUNISHMENT

Hundreds of grieving parents in Juyuan have met and circulated petitions demanding an annual memorial day for their dead children, punishment of officials or builders responsible for shoddy schools, and compensation, Zhao and others said.

Zhao’s 15-year-old daughters, Yajia and Yaqi, attended Juyuan Middle School and were in a six-level building of classrooms that collapsed, killing some 500 or more of the school’s 1,300 pupils.

The quake struck in mid-afternoon, when many children were at their desks. Dozens of other schools also collapsed, quite a few while neighboring buildings stayed upright and relatively safe.

China held a memorial day for victims of the quake on Monday, and officials have promised no mercy for anyone found responsible for shoddy school buildings.

On Tuesday, dozens of parents whose children were killed in the Juyuan school collapse said that was not enough.

They had gathered to put signatures and red-inked thumb prints on what seemed to be one of several circulating draft petitions, expressing demands that had yet to be finalized.

Asked what they wanted most, nearly all said they sought official recognition that the children’s deaths were due to more than random natural destruction.

“This was a tofu dregs project and the government should assume responsibility,” said Pu Changxue, whose son Pu Tong died crushed in a classroom. Pu was referring to the messy remnants left over when making tofu, or beancurd, a common Chinese term for shoddy workmanship and poor materials.

“We all know that earthquakes are natural disasters. But what happened to our children also has human causes, and they’re even more frightening,” he said.

Families said they had also gone to the town government, but officials have begged for patience while they cope with the emergency demands of the massive quake.

Other residents watched the gathered parents, voicing sympathy. Many said they knew Zhao’s twins — lively, attractive girls who seemed destined for show business.

“To think that I lived and they died,” said an old woman living opposite Zhao’s shrine. “That is just too unfair.”

- Reuters: China’s grieving quake parents start to voice anger