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The recent earthquake that has shook Southwest China's Sichuan province to its bones has also revealed the bare bones of the reality of the Chinese political system today. As tens of thousands of mobilized soldiers hike through remote mountains and dig through rubble to rescue buried survivors, the divergent face of China's government has been exposed. In contrast to the Burmese dictatorship which has continued to hinder aid efforts from reaching the needy millions of victims from the recent cyclone, the response of the Chinese central government has been a world away. Within 90 minutes of first word from the earthquake, the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao had already boarded a plane on his way to the region. Since then, Wen has been shown comforting survivors, digging through rubble, and pouring through plans with genuine concern and humanity. The Chinese press has been remarkably open and thorough in its coverage of the quake, and over 50,000 PLA troops have been mobilized for rescue efforts throughout the vast region. Incidents such as this come as reminders of why China's central government, unlike many other authoritarian states, continues to enjoy mass popular support. In fact, in direct contrast to the general impression in the West, China's central leadership are amongst the most capable and intelligent in the world. Trained as engineers, most of China's top leaders are pragmatists and far sighted visionaries, well aware of their own personal responsibility in shaping the destiny of their nation's rapid rise to power. However, what the aftermath of the quake has laid bare is the stark contrast between the competence of the central government and the incompetence of much of China's local governments. Corruption and greed are a fact of life in much of China's local officialdom, many of whom are not highly educated and to whom, the temptation of power is too much to resist. The fact that so many schools and hospitals in the region has collapsed while government buildings have not is not so subtly tied to the suggestion that many officials have siphoned public funds from the proper reinforcement of non-governmental buildings. In addition, rural Chinese are plagued by victimization from local officials in the form of illegal land grabs as well as labor violations. These realities have bred widespread public resentment at official corruption throughout the Chinese countryside. Every year, China's rural regions are racked by thousands of protests that barely recieve coverage unless they take a severely violent turn as public frustration boils over. This dichotomy of modern Chinese politics where the central leadership enjoys widespread support and popularity, while local officialdom bears the brunt of public resentment, easily explain why many Chinese remain supportive of their government even though they are angry about widespread corruption. Clearly, this is not lost upon China's central leadership, who have undertaken widespread reforms in the countryside in the last few years including eliminating taxes for farmers. However, more political reform is clearly needed to truly cut off the disease of corruption amongst local governments. Expect more to come. This year's national congress in Beijing focused singularly on democracy and political reform, albeit in purposely vague terms. However, there is word on the ground that significant plans for real political reform is in the works but certainly will not be implemented until after the Olympics are over, for fear of political instability. China's central leadership are well aware that the nation's continued social and economic growth has long outgrown its outdated political system, future development cannot be possible without true political reform. The months after the Olympics will be quite telling about the direction in which China's political winds are blowing.
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