CHINA explosion: Better Sorry than Safe!?
- Mette Holm
- Aug 21, 2015
- 3 min read
(Incidental new Yorker VI in the pipeline)
The huge explosion in Beijing’s port city of Tianjin on August 12th that killed at least 114 people, injured lots more and still has about 60 people (mostly badly trained young firefighters) missing is a tragedy. It is also the biggest industrial accident that the Chinese authorities ever admitted to since the Communist Party came to power in 1949. We don’t know exactly who’s responsible. But we do know is that some will be held responsible and severely punished. This is how it’s done in China!
China has a weird unwritten culture of “better sorry than safe!” There are safety rules and regulations as strict as any. But regard for safety in many instances is well nigh non-existent, and resources and budgets to uphold it ridiculous. Any official knows that his or her job, Communist Party membership and perhaps freedom are at stake if and when disaster strikes. This is why in China covering up of the true number of casualties in accidents is merely a matter of routine. Three dead is a “rather serious accident,” three to nine is a “serious accident,” while 10 or more dead is “extremely serious,” and whomever in the administration deemed responsible, the mayor, party chief or others, whether rightly so or not, will suffer consequences.
But despite this there is a widespread culture of just hoping and counting on that disaster will not strike.
The explosion in Tianjin, home to 15 million people, is obviously “extremely serious.” Had safety standards been observed, many lives would not have been lost, lots of people would not have been injured, 17,000 households and 170 factories would not have been damaged, the 3000 cars parked in the area would not have burnt. Initial reports estimate the costs to 1.5 billion dollars.
At first, it was confusion, contradictory information, lack of coordination etc. Local authorities, true to routine procedure, tried to cover up, closed down their telephone lines etc. But after a few days the central government seems to have interfered and introduced somewhat more transparency.
The explosion took place in a warehouse that in a vastly irresponsible way stored chemicals belonging to what seems to be a private company. What actually happened, and most seriously, what toxic chemicals the population was exposed to is not yet clear.
Even if one would like the Chinese leaders to have made an active decision to inform the public in a responsible way for the first time in New China’s history, I can’t help but suspect that they were forced to such new transparency by social media. Despite the local authorities’ desperate attempts to cover up, and the central authorities’ initial attempt to do likewise, social media simply overtook officialdom and poured out information to the public. And then the authorities had to follow suit.
And by now I have become that much of a Chinese that I totally agree with China’s late – and last – paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in believing that It doesn't matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice. I really don’t care whether the Chinese authorities’ new and extraordinary transparency in informing on the explosion in Tianjin was voluntary or forced. This new transparency is the only positive aspect of this tragedy. May it become a lasting contribution to China!
New York, August 21, 2015 © Mette Holm
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