Helping hands from Dalai Lama

One week after the 7.1 level earthquake in Yushu County of Qinghai Province in China, official reports show more than 2,000 deaths from the disaster, while the local monks estimated at least 10,000 deaths. Neighbors like Taiwan and Hong Kong and overseas Chinese have all sent support to help, yet within the Chinese government the top officials focused on getting media coverage under control. Media in China suggested that there are opposing forces from outside attempting to disrupt the rescue mission in the earthquake region, raising concerns within China and the rest of the world.

Lamas poured in to Yushu to help immediately after the earthquake occurred, digging up survivors, helping to process the corpses and holding praying sessions to pray for the dead and help the locals to be strong. Ninety-seven percent of the local population is Tibetan, with Buddhism being the dominant religion. Qinghai Province is the hometown of Dalai Lama. A letter from 100,000 quake survivors was posted on the Tibetan exile government website, calling for the Chinese Communist government to allow Dalai to return to the region to pray for those who’ve passed away.
A rumor of Dalai returning to Qinghai has been circulating among the Tibetans in the damaged region, said Weise, a Tibetan native writer residing in Beijing. “Officials ordered lamas who’ve helped with the quake to immediately return home; as if they are doing something wrong, and the order was harsh and threatening, thus many monks had to pause their rescue efforts and return home.”
Chairman Jian Qinlin of CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress, a top advisor body for the government) stated on 19th of April that the rescue mission in Yushu faces many difficulties and challenges, other than the lack of oxygen, poverty and ethnic religion conflicts, external opposing forces have been attempting to disrupt the rescue efforts.
The statement showed concern for the government, and raised extensive debates within and outside China. In Hong Kong, analyses in the media point out the rescue mission and aftercare in Yushu could become the new battle stage for the central government and the Tibetan exile government, and it’s worthwhile to pay attention for the rest of us.
Dalai made a public announcement right after the quake, stating he wishes to return home to visit those in suffrage and help.
Foreign affairs spokesman Jian Yu announced on 20th of April that prayers and other religious activities is starting, the eleventh Pan Chan lama and the sixth Living Buddha have held ceremonies for the dead in Beijing the same day.
Mystery of the death toll
Chinese official reported till April 20th, the earthquake has contributed to 2,046 deaths, 193 missing and 12,135 injured. A local lama Anwendanbarenqing estimated the death toll exceeding 10,000. Currently the region is covered by heavy snow, adding difficulty for the rescue teams along with alpine hypoxia (lack of oxygen in air in high altitude areas).
On 17th of April local officials announced more than 700 bodies were cremated, the lama in charge of the ceremony told others the actual numbers reached 2,300.
Volunteer Xidanzen told Radio Free Asia, “Some say a lot died, the official reported very few. When a friend of mine came back from that region, he told me more than 2,000 bodies have been cremated already, yesterday another friend said the number is 8,000 to 9,000.”
Funding concerns
More than 150 countries have extended their regards to China, and more than 3.2 million USD of donation has been sent via Japan, Korea, France and United States. The Red Cross, Oxfam and other volunteer organization have travelled to Qinghai to help. Clothing and other nessaties were shipped to the region. A volunteer from Hong Kong, Mr. Huang Furong died during rescue missions for the orphans. Taiwan Red Cross arrived on the night of 18th with a team of twenty along with more than one ton of rescue supplies.
Until the 17th of Apr, donations from across China reached up to 2.25 billion yuan. A report from Xinhua agency on 18th reported that during the Sichuan Earthquake, local corrupted officials alone illegally took three billion yuan from the reconstruction capital.
The Top Concerns
Once again, the collapsing of school buildings in the Yushu earthquake became a center of attention. A Qinghai education official reported 11 schools demolished by the quake, in a school of 3,000 students, 80% of the buildings collapsed during the quake.
According to sources, verbal orders were given internally from the central government propaganda department to restrict any reports on unhappy survivors or insufficient rescue efforts. Reports should focus upon how government officials helped and cared for the damaged region.
Analyses in Japan’s Morning News suggests that after the Sichuan Earthquake in 2008, some Chinese media and bloggers in have criticized the delay from the army (People’s Liberation Army, the official help sent by the government) , which directly led to the increase in death toll. This time the state media agency raised their alert early, attempting to eliminate such reports again.
Letters were sent to international media teams in the region as well, suggesting them to fully cooperate with instructions from the local government, French media World Post reported.
Lee Changchun from the Politburo standing Committee of the CCP announced on 18th of April that media needs to “fully promote the advanced groups and models in the fight for rescue, emphasize Communist Party is great, Socialism is great, reforms by the government is great, the people’s liberation army is great, different people in each ethnic group is great, and the great nation of China is great.”