Natural disasters are never easy. One week on, the destruction of the Sichuan earthquake is still only now being understood. Yet criticism of the Chinese government's response is growing.
Some of the criticisms are justified. It took two days for China to agree to international help. Painful, especially as aid agencies say the first 72 hours are the most important.
However, the Chinese government took the disaster seriously from the start. Fifty thousand troops were sent on the first day. Another 30,000 were deployed within 48 hours. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was on the scene on day one and President Hu Jintao got there 5 days later.
Compare that to America's response to Katrina. It took 36 hours for the hurricane to be declared an "incident of national significance". National Guard units were unable to be deployed because many of the men were in Iraq and President Bush only made it to New Orleans two weeks after the hurricane hit the city.
Hurricane Katrina and the Sichuan earthquake are different beasts and comparisons are almost impossible. But in terms of government response, China has outshone America.
Some of the criticisms are justified. It took two days for China to agree to international help. Painful, especially as aid agencies say the first 72 hours are the most important.
However, the Chinese government took the disaster seriously from the start. Fifty thousand troops were sent on the first day. Another 30,000 were deployed within 48 hours. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was on the scene on day one and President Hu Jintao got there 5 days later.
Compare that to America's response to Katrina. It took 36 hours for the hurricane to be declared an "incident of national significance". National Guard units were unable to be deployed because many of the men were in Iraq and President Bush only made it to New Orleans two weeks after the hurricane hit the city.
Hurricane Katrina and the Sichuan earthquake are different beasts and comparisons are almost impossible. But in terms of government response, China has outshone America.
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