Where is the money for disaster victims?

Choni Tsultrim Gyatso NJ | May 14th, 2010 | 11:35 am


25/04/2010 23:41:00

Secret China Staff

In the wake of the southwestern China drought and the Qinghai Earthquake, the Chinese government announced that it was short in funds for disaster relief. When foreign governments offered rescue team and monetary assistance, the Chinese government responded by saying, “Yes please” to the money and, “No thanks” to the people. Let’s take a look at where the cash-strapped government spends its funds.

In 2007:
- Budget for the construction of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail was increased to 220 billion yuan (U.S. dollar $31 billion)

In 2008:
- The central government unveiled a four trillion yuan ($571 billion) investment program
- China cancelled over 40 billion yuan ($5.7 billion) debt owed by 46 countries
- The Beijing Olympic Games cost 300 billion yuan ($43 billion)

In 2009:
- China exempted 150 debts of 32 countries
- China’s assistance to African nations hit 76 billion yuan ($11 billion)
- China’s assistance to North Korea reached 800 billion yuan ($114 billion)
- Total holdings of U.S. debt reached 810 billion U.S. dollars; total external debt purchase reached 2 trillion U.S. dollars
- Public bus expenditures hit 900 billion yuan ($129 billion) annually
- State-controlled PetroChina announced, “Increasing our salary and wages by one billion yuan ($143 million) is small money”
- Shanghai’s 5000 road sign replacement costs 200 million yuan ($29 million), an average of 40,000 yuan ($5,714) for each signs
- total lending in China reached nearly 10 trillion yuan ($1.43 trillion)

In 2010:
- The 2010 Shanghai World Expo will cost 400 billion yuan ($57 billion)
- The Shanghai-Hangzhou maglev cost 35 billion yuan ($5 billion) to save ten minutes of travel time
- China promised North Korea an investment plan worth 70 billion yuan ($10 billion)
- Hubei Province unveils a 12 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion) investment plan

In comparison, the 2010 drought in China’s five southwestern provinces is leaving 60 million people without water. The economical impact is 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion). The Chinese government allocated 160 million yuan ($22.9 million) for drought relief. On the issue of universal healthcare, the government estimates that it would cost 160 billion yuan each year, and concluded that there is a lack of financial strength to achieve this!