Comments on: As Games End, China's Luster Is Tarnished

Despite Olympic Stage For Achievements And Gold Medal Lead, Nation Still Faces Concerns Over Human Rights

[telltale57]

I am very confident that in the long run China will reclaim her place as one of the greatest world cultures. But it won''t happen by ignoring what is wrong and whitewashing (Lin''s words) the bad sides of Chinese society.
I am also by no means suggesting that the West is much better. The difference is that, in China, this is all too transparent. Everyone knows it. They don''t say much about it because 1) it might get them into to trouble, 2) it won''t help anyway, and 3) they probably mostly accept it as the way the world is.
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[telltale57]

There is a great book - actually a couple, My Country and My People and The Importance of Living - written by one of the best 20th century English writers, Lin Yutang. He talks about everthing, but also such issues as corruption are sprinkled in here and there. The system is very deeply engrained in Chinese culture. But that does not mean that the leaders are not responsible. Of course, there is some level of corruption from the very small man up to the top. But it is a system that destroys everything. Everyone is, in some part, guilty. But still the leaders are the biggest criminals and so I hold them mostly responsible.
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[telltale57]

I never suggested that the Sichuan earthquake was a 7. I said it was far below the 10.5 that the law required for the building code. I thnk it was 7.8, but that is beside the point.

[telltale57]

If you find it incredible, I can understand. But check what the earthquake standards in earthquake prone areas is and you''ll see it is 10.5 everywhere. I''m well aware that there has never been a measured earthquake at that level. But they usually don''t prepare for the worste recorded earthquake, flood, etc. See what happened in New Orleans. You can''t just assume that it will never be that direct hit because it never happened before. anyway, this is beside the point, since China''s standard is also the same as international standard in this case. The difference is that the law was not enforced. And everyone, including the highest levels of government in Beijing, knew it wsn''t being enforced. Why did they do nothing? Because it is their clan that are among the main beneficiaries of such corruption. I live in the middle of it. Believe me. Or don''t. I don''t care. I''m just sharing information.

A party member may get on here and refute everythign I''ve said. Then you can decide who is right.

[joechristine]

Actually,Sichuan earthquake is 8.0 ,not just 7.0.

[joechristine]

telltale57:
Some of What you say here have been released in Chinese media and every CHinese know them.I think Chinses government has also realised them.As for "1) to pick up their money, the bribe money, and 2) to make sure that, from the outside, things look okay. They might, for example, take a look at some of the student papers. If the papers are not written well enough, the professors - that''''s right, the professors - will be required to rewrite the student papers to give the appearance of good education ",i think it just a tale!There is no need for them to do it. Yes,the schools in earthquale zone were not built to standard of the Chinese law.And it''s quite unlucky that it resulted in unnecessary deaths.But given rarely strong execution of Sichuan earthquake,this earthquake is the essential reason .

[telltale57]

To suggest that in Sichuan they were preparing for a 7. earthquake is ludicrous. Sichuan is well known to lie in a major faultline and to be subject to possible earthquake. An earthquake of 7 is a rather small one. It would be pointless to set that as the measure. Actually, on these sorts of issues Chinese science is as good as any. We certainly know what an earthquake is and where to expect them. You are selling the Chinese short here. And bribe money for such things ultimately ends up in the coffers of big mafia bosses in Beijing. It is well known in China.

[telltale57]

To suggest that in Sichuan they were preparing for a 7. earthquake is ludicrous. Sichuan is well known to lie in a major faultline and to be subject to possible earthquake. An earthquake of 7 is a rather small one. It would be pointless to set that as the measure. Actually, on these sorts of issues Chinese science is as good as any. We certainly know what an earthquake is and where to expect them. You are selling the Chinese short here. And bribe money for such things ultimately ends up in the coffers of big mafia bosses in Beijing. It is well known in China.

[telltale57]

as to the level of earthquake required by CHinese law, it is well known that the standard all over the world is 10.5. THat is, as you can see, to cover the worst case scenario. Chinese has very highly trained engeneers and modern laws on safety issues. I''ve lived in China for a long time and I''m half Chinese. I do know Chinese law. These things can be easily checked and in any case this point is not disputed. It was widely anounced on Hongkong TV.

[iamauto]

There two basic facts that you should know.

1. The biggest earthquke ever happened on earch was in Chile, 1960, a 9.5 magnitude earthquake(I guess you get the number 10.5 from the earthquake movie "10.5".);

2. In Sichuan, the law defines that the builds should withstand a 7 magnitude earthquake and the seismic intensity standard is 8(They''re different concepts);