Posts Tagged ‘environment’
Posted by feww on June 4, 2008
Chinese Government Prevents Aggrieved Parents Lodging Lawsuit
Chinese police broke up a demonstration by dozens of aggrieved parents protesting outside a Dujiangyan courthouse over the loss of their children on Tuesday, and prevented them from lodging a lawsuit over a collapsed school building. On Wednesday the police blocked access to the schools that collapsed on May 12 earthquake.
The father of Li Yun, a 15-year-old student who died in the May 12 earthquake, flashes a photograph of her through a police car’s window after he was forcibly detained and taken away from the Juyuan middle school in Juyuan, Sichuan province June 4, 2008. REUTERS/Nir Elias. Image may be subject to copyright. See RTSF Fair Use Notice!
Chinese police broke up a demonstration by dozens of aggrieved parents protesting outside a Dujiangyan courthouse over the loss of their children on Tuesday, and prevented them from lodging a lawsuit over a collapsed school building. On Wednesday the police blocked access to the schools that collapsed on May 12 earthquake.
China’s State Council said Wednesday that the death toll rose to 69,122, with 17,991 more missing and likely dead. More than 9,000 children lost their lives in the massive earthquake. Many parents blame sub-standard buildings were responsible for the death of their loved ones and vowed to press on with their complaints.
“The government has said it will address our complaints, but the officials are too corrupt to actually do anything,” said Zhao Deqin, a mother whose 15-year-old twin daughters, Yajia and Yaqi, died when the Juyuan Middle school collapsed.
“We certainly want to sue the school and whoever was responsible,” said Zhang Xianqing, a parent whose 15-year-old boy also died in the school, in a town near Dujianggyan.
“We will help them solve their difficulties so that they can receive consolation,” a government spokesman said in Beijing. “This is a very painful thing. Who would not feel fluctuations in emotions? It will take time for them to calm down. Much work needs to be done.”
The official statement, however, contradicts some of the parents who said local authorities were harassing them.
“We went to seek justice for the children and they said we were troublemakers. The police were in a row and would not let us pass,” said Li Guilong, 20, whose 16-year-old sister Li Zhuan was killed in the collapse of the Xiang’e Middle School.
Another parent, Li Fuliang, who lost his 14-year-old son aid the police had visited his house to warn him off against “making any trouble.”
“They told me not to go and make trouble. If the government does not give us a clear response I will keep going to seek justice. My child died,” he said.
Reporting Protests Banned
“But the protests by parents have not been reported locally, and efforts by officials to discourage foreign reporters talking to parents underscore the school issue’s sensitivity when the government wants the focus on massive relief efforts for millions of displaced people.” Reuters reported.
Police and soldiers react to being photographed as they guard the entrance to the earthquake-destroyed Xinjian primary school in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, China June 4, 2008. REUTERS/Nir Elias. Image may be subject to copyright. See RTSF Fair Use Notice!
“This is going to be a touchstone issue that brings together questions about how to deal with the quake aftermath — accountability, the public interest and compensation,” Xu Wu, a former Chinese journalist and now a public relations expert at Arizona State University, said of the schools.
“Normally four to five weeks after a disaster, relatives of victims recover from the initial shock and become more demanding and questioning. I think that will start happening.”
“In Beijing, lawyers have held meetings on the rights of quake victims and issued calls for a full inquiry into the schools.” Reuters said.
“That it was school rooms that collapsed first in the earthquake is a national disgrace,” rights campaigner Xu Zhiyong told a recent forum, according to a transcript seen by Reuters. (Source)
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Posted in china, environment, human rights, politics | Tagged: ACTION, aggrieved parents, Anxian county, Beichuan, Beijing Olympics, China's officialdom, Chinese journalists, Chinese leaders, Chinese politburo, Chinese principle, chinese teacher, Coward, CPC, CPC Central Committee, crime, death, Dujianggyan, earthquake, earthquake survivors, environment, epicenter, every man for himself, Fan Meizhong, food, heroism, Jianjiang river, Juyuan, Li Yun, moral cowardice, politics, quake lake, rate race, Runner Fan, Sichuan province, Tangjiashan, victims, water, Xiaoba town, Xinhua, Yajia, Yaqi, Zhao Deqin | 2 Comments »
Posted by feww on June 3, 2008
“I’m a Coward, So What? I’m Still Alive!” —’Runner Fan’
“In matters of life and death, it’s every man for himself, the cowardly Chinese teacher, Fan Meizhong, said.
“I ran towards the stairs so fast that I stumbled and fell as I went. When I reached the center of the football pitch, I found I was the first to escape. None of my pupils was with me,” said the coward, known as ‘Runner Fan.’
Later, when some of his students who managed to scape asked him how he could have left them behind, he replied: “I have a very strong sense of self-preservation … I have never been a brave man and I’m only really concerned about myself.”
Watch your fingernails! The brave Chinese military personnel save the earthquake survivors. The soldiers risk breaking their fingernails removing debris—one brick at a time! (Photo: Reuters). Image may be subject to copyright. See RTSF Fair Use Notice!
“While newspapers have largely followed instructions to concentrate on uplifting tales of rescue work since the earthquake, the internet has seen a wild variety of tales emerge.” Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported.
The Chinese principle of “every man for himself,” otherwise known as the “me-first-in-rate-race,” seems to run throughout China’s officialdom to its utmost criminal extent. In Juyuan School, where according to the parents 500 to 700 of the 900 students [about 56 -78 percent] died [the official number is 278 deaths, or 31 percent] only six out of 80 teachers [less than 8 percent] perished. one explanation offered by the parents was that “teachers stood nearest the doors.”
The bottom line? “I didn’t cause the earthquake, so I have no reason to feel guilty,” he said. “When I got back to the classroom, the students were all fine.” (Source)
The only consolation? At least he admitted to his moral cowardice. Something the Chinese leaders haven’t done yet!
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Posted in ACTION, Chinese politburo, CPC, CPC Central Committee, crime, death, environment, human rights, politics, victims | Tagged: Anxian county, Beichuan, Beijing Olympics, china, China's officialdom, Chinese leaders, Chinese principle, chinese teacher, Coward, earthquake, environment, epicenter, every man for himself, Fan Meizhong, food, heroism, Jianjiang river, moral cowardice, politics, quake lake, rate race, Runner Fan, Sichuan province, Tangjiashan, water, Xiaoba town, Xinhua | 2 Comments »
Posted by terres on June 2, 2008
What Has Soaring Food and Fuel Prices Got to Do with Human Rights?
Whose fault is it If the poor can’t afford food? Give them more money and you create a bigger problem: Inflation.
It’s not the job of your government to control these things you know, they have more important things to do: National security and the Economy (!)
The poor don’t come with engines and wheels; you can’t drive them like cars. Why should they get all the grains at dirt cheap prices, when biofuels bring in a decent profit and help turn the wheels?
Neither the UN nor the so-called global relief organizations seem to care about the plight of the world’s poor. So, once again, do the poor have human rights?
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Posted in bush, china, environment, GENOCIDE, human rights, politics | Tagged: africa, agriculture, americas, asia, Bangladesh, basic needs, biocapacity, biofuels, Bolivia, Buffett the Poor, Cameroon, china, climate change, collapse, corn, demonstrations, ecosystems, Egypt, El Salvador, Emerging Food Crisis, energy, environment, food, food riots, Food Shortages, Fueling Food Shortages, garment workers, Global Warming, government, grains, Haiti, health, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritania, money, Mozambique, Oil Chaos, Pakistan, Philippines Senegal, politics, Poverty Index, protests, Singapore, Somalia, staple diet, strikes, tourism, travel, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, War, Yemen | Leave a Comment »
Posted by feww on May 23, 2008
Why was the Wenchuan girl photographed below separated from her parents? Where is she now?
[Why is this girl being taken away?] “A girl waves goodbye to her parents as she is airlifted out of the earthquake-hit city of Wenchuan, Sichuan province May 22, 2008. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause (CHINA)” (Image may be subject to copyright. See RTSF Fair Use Notice!)
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Posted in ACTION, china, chinaquake, climate change, communists, corruption, CPC, CPC Central Committee, deathtraps, disaster, disaster relief, environment, food, food prices, foreign policy, free world, health, Hu Jintao, human rights, humanitarian crisis, mainshock, Mianyang city, new zealand, Olympics, pandemics, paratroopers, plague, politics, prostitutes, rescue team, second wives, Sichuan, storm, tourism, travel, water rationing, water shortage, wealth, Wen Jiabao, Zhao Deqin, Zhou Yongkang | Tagged: asia, bribes, china, ecosystems, environment, government, human rights, money, politics, racism, sleaze, Wenchuan, Wenchuan girl, Yajia, Yaqi | 3 Comments »
Posted by terres on May 22, 2008
80,000 people are dead or missing in China’s earthquake, 300,000 injured
The government’s figure for the dead is 51,000 with 29,000 missing. It’s not known how many survivors were rescued from the rubble. In Beichuan county, about two-thirds of the population were killed.
[You Killed My Baby!] “A mother gestures as she confronts Zhu Qi (R), education dean of Mianyang city, while she and more than 100 parents attend a memorial service for their dead children at the destroyed Fuxing Primary School in the earthquake-hit Wufu town of Mianzhu county, Sichuan province May 21, 2008.” REUTERS/Jason Lee. (Image may be subject to copyright. See RTSF Fair Use Notice!)
A mother holding a portrait of her dead son confronts Zhu Qi (L), education dean of Mianyang city, as she and more than 100 parents attend a memorial service at the destroyed Fuxing Primary School in the earthquake-hit Wufu town of Mianzhu county, Sichuan province May 21, 2008. Parents said their children died unnecessarily because of the bad quality of the school’s classrooms. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA). (Image may be subject to copyright. See RTSF Fair Use Notice!)
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Posted in asia, bribes, china, ecosystems, environment, GENOCIDE, government, human rights, money, politics, racism, sleaze, Yajia, Yaqi | Tagged: ACTION, china, chinaquake, climate change, communists, corruption, CPC, CPC Central Committee, deathtraps, disaster, disaster relief, environment, food, food prices, foreign policy, free world, health, Hu Jintao, human rights, humanitarian crisis, mainshock, Mianyang city, new zealand, Olympics, pandemics, paratroopers, plague, politics, prostitutes, rescue team, second wives, Sichuan, storm, tourism, travel, water rationing, water shortage, wealth, Wen Jiabao, Zhao Deqin, Zhou Yongkang | 1 Comment »
Posted by terres on May 22, 2008
We all know that earthquakes are natural disasters. But what happened to our children also has human causes, and they’re even more frightening. —A grieved parent who lost his son.
Zhao Deqin Lost Her 15-year-old Twins, Yajia and Yaqi
JUYUAN, China (Reuters) – Zhao Deqin keeps a kerbside memorial to her twin daughters killed when their school collapsed in China’s earthquake, and a petition-signing site alongside that has become a focus of protest by grieving parents.
The most lamented victims of the quake that shattered parts of Sichuan province in southwest China eight days ago have been the thousands of children killed when school buildings collapsed.
Earthquake survivor, Zhao Deqian, the mother of twins Zhao Yajia and Zhao Yaqi, 15, who were killed when their school building collapsed in the earthquake, cries at their memorial altar in the town of Juyuan in the quake-hit area of Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, May 20, 2008. REUTERS/Nicky Loh (Image may be subject to copyright. See RTSF Fair Use Notice!)
As the ruling Communist Party seeks to maintain a staunch front of unity and stability after the quake, the incipient protests by parents could be troublesome, for many of them blame official graft and laxity, more than nature, for the deaths.
“How come all the houses didn’t fall down, but the school did? And how come that happened in so many places?” Asked Zhao.
“This was a tofu dregs project and the government should assume responsibility,” said Pu Changxue, whose son Pu Tong died in a classroom.
“To think that I lived and they died,” said an old woman living opposite Zhao’s shrine. “That is just too unfair.” (Source)
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Posted in ACTION, china, chinaquake, climate change, communists, corruption, CPC, CPC Central Committee, deathtraps, disaster, disaster relief, disasters, environment, food, food prices, foreign policy, free world, health, Hu Jintao, human rights, humanitarian crisis, mainshock, new zealand, Olympics, pandemics, paratroopers, plague, politics, prostitutes, rescue team, second wives, Sichuan, storm, tourism, travel, water rationing, water shortage, wealth, Wen Jiabao, Zhao Deqin, Zhou Yongkang | Tagged: asia, bribes, china, ecosystems, environment, government, money, politics, sleaze, Yajia, Yaqi | 1 Comment »
Fundamental Human Rights 