China's big chill exposes other problems

Straits Times 2 Feb 08;

UNTIL quite recently, China's government-controlled media either ignored or played down reports about disasters.

Not this week, however, as China was lashed by its worst snow blizzards in half a century. The media provided constant coverage of what the state news agency Xinhua called 'an all-out war'.

Almost half a million soldiers and policemen fanned out across the nation to clear snow and render assistance. And, in a remarkable gesture, Premier Wen Jiabao appeared at Guangzhou's main train station to offer his personal apologies to some of the 600,000 travellers stranded.

The timing of the storms could not have been worse: just as the country is preparing for the Chinese New Year, during which hundreds of millions are on the move.

And since many of these are migrant workers desperate to rejoin their families in the countryside, the danger was clear: their misery could have transformed a logistical difficulty into a first-rate political disaster.

In the age of Internet chatrooms and mobile phones, it is no longer possible to hide disasters. China's rulers are aware that if they are to retain power, they must be seen to be exercising it effectively.

The snow blizzards also started a deeper national debate about China's environmental challenges.

Both local and foreign scientists dismiss claims that the blizzards, which killed more than 60 people, are linked to climate change.

But they accept that weather conditions are becoming more unpredictable as a result of global warming, and they do forecast much more frequent snow storms in northern China as a result.

The Chinese authorities admit the level of carbon emissions is soaring and the country's water, soil and air are heavily polluted. Yet despite all the talk, little has been done to contain the damage. This may be about to change.

The Chinese government has promised to publish a 'census' of the country's chief polluters later this month. And after the latest weather havoc, it now seems virtually certain that China's State Environmental Protection Administration, hitherto a largely toothless watchdog, will be elevated to a full government ministry.

But if the Chinese government wants to avoid a repetition of this week's problems, it will have to tackle its root causes.

Up to 80 per cent of the country's electricity is generated by coal-fired power stations. China's main coal-producing regions were largely unaffected by the freak weather, but the distribution system was, and existing coal stockpiles were clearly insufficient.

Desperate to get the trains running again, China's government simply shut off electricity supplies to steel and smelting industries.

But this is hardly a long-term solution. A longer-

term solution must involve an overall increase in power generation, a more robust electricity grid and better crisis-management procedures overall.

It is not beyond China's ability to accomplish all these tasks. For even the popular Premier Wen probably does not relish the prospect of apologising to his people every winter.

China's deep freeze
Dark days for 4.6 million people in Chenzhou
Chua Chin Hon, Straits Times 2 Feb 08;

BEIJING - NO WATER, no electricity, and practically cut off from the outside world.

Chenzhou city, ground zero of China's worst snowstorm in 50 years, has plunged into deep freeze.

For at least a week now, the 4.6 million residents of Chenzhou city, in central Hunan province, have had to live in miserably cold and dark conditions after unusually heavy snowfall cut off power supply and telecommunications links.

The residents say their mobile phones are barely working after the frigid weather crippled dozens of base stations in and around the city. The lack of power also means shops have been shuttered and automated-teller machines can no longer dispense cash.

Not that there is much to buy. State broadcaster CCTV reported that the city has only seven days' worth of diesel fuel supply and enough rice to last just five days. Emergency supplies are said to be on the way.

'We feel miserable,' said Chenzhou resident Li Lilan in an interview broadcast on China National Radio. 'This kind of living conditions is just inhumane.'

Also suffering are 3,000 residents on Liangzi Island in neighbouring Hubei province.

They had been trapped without fresh fuel, rice and vegetables for a week after the waters surrounding the island froze over.

The residents finally found an old icebreaker, and used the ship to navigate through the ice-crusted waters, the New Express daily reported yesterday.

Nearly three weeks of relentless snow and rain have turned daily life into a nightmare for people in the central, southern and eastern parts of the country.

Millions of migrant workers have been prevented from returning home for the coming Chinese New Year holiday after the snow- storms caused large swathes of the country's power grid and transportation network to be shut down.

In southern Guangzhou city, where tens of thousands of workers are packed like sardines in train and bus stations, waiting for a ride home, tempers flared on Wednesday night when the workers mistakenly thought railway services had resumed and tried to charge into the train station.

They were eventually stopped by thousands of riot policemen, media reports said, adding that no violent clashes erupted.

There are concerns, however, that emotions could run high the nearer it gets to the Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 7.

When asked if the Chinese government could guarantee that every traveller would get home in time for the festivities, Mr Zhu Hongren, a senior official with the country's top economic planning agency, would only say that Beijing was trying its best.

He told reporters at a press conference yesterday that the disaster had taken a toll on China's economy but gave the assurance that any impact would be short-term.

'The economic fundamentals of the Chinese economy are still sound, and I believe the momentum of the fairly rapid and steady growth of the Chinese economy will continue,' he said.

Meanwhile, Ms Li, the Chenzhou resident, and millions of other residents in the snow-hit regions are digging in for a cold, dark and miserable Chinese New Year as the weathermen predict more snow and rain in the days ahead.

The fierce winter storm has already killed some 60 people, destroyed 223,000 houses and damaged another 862,000 homes, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Direct economic damages are estimated at 53.8 billion yuan (S$10.5 billion).

The ministry's deputy director-general for disaster relief, Mr Zou Ming, sidestepped a question on whether the snow-hit regions had enough energy and food reserves to tide them over the crisis, saying merely that the 'situation would improve as more supplies reach them'.

Asked if China planned to ask for assistance from other countries or the United Nations, he told The Straits Times: 'We have not considered this.'