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The downpour Beijing municipal authorities warned would hit on Wednesday night never materialized. Instead, the city government continued to be buffeted by increasingly fierce storm of criticism over its handling of last weekend＊s floods.
Top of the list of public grievances: The Beijing government＊s persistent refusal to update the death toll from the floods, pegged at 37 since Sunday evening.
On Thursday, no less a voice than Communist Party mouthpiece newspaper People＊s Daily joined the chorus of critics, taking the city to task for its reticence in a commentary that ran under the headline ※Casualty Numbers Are Not a ＆Sensitive Topic.＊§ It may take time to verify the identities of the deceased, the paper said, ※but is it not possible to first publish a death toll and report identities later?§
The paper suggested Beijing risked losing the people＊s hearts unless it embraced transparency. ※People are paying less attention to ＆negative news＊ and more attention to how the government deals with ＆negative news,＊§ it said.
The Beijing municipal government spokeswoman couldn＊t be reached for comment.
Frustration with the lack of information has let some Chinese people to begin compiling their own lists of casualties based on reports from traditional and social media.
But it＊s not just the Beijing government＊s silence that＊s stirring discontent: Attempts to silence others are also fueling outrage.
Criticism spread through social media Thursday morning after reporters at Southern Weekend, a boundary-pushing weekly based in the southern city of Guangzhou, complained that censors had killed eight pages＊ worth of reports on the Beijing floods.
※Seven colleagues. Trekked more than 2000 kilometers to Beijing. Interviewed the families of 24 victims,§ Southern Weekend reporter Zhang Yuqun wrote on Sina Corp.＊s Weibo microblogging service in a post that was later deleted. ※Yesterday, as soon as the stories were written, I climbed into bed and fell asleep. In the morning, I woke up to see the news. I want to say it 2000 times: F岸 your mother.§
※What are certain people afraid of?帝? Too weak-hearted,§ protested a Sina Weibo user posting under the name 7 Hornbills.
Even more controversial was Sina＊s temporary suspension on Thursday of the Weibo account belonging to real-estate mogul and Communist Party member Ren Zhiqiang, who had been sharply criticized Beijing＊s handling of the floods an numerous occasions.
One of the party＊s most outspoken internal critics, Mr. Ren boasts more than nine million followers on Sina Weibo. In posts that were later deleted, he documented censors＊ efforts to get him to soften his stance, saying at one point that he had been ※invited for tea,§ a euphemism for being visited by authorities.
News that he was no longer able to use his account prompted AN outcry on the site on Thursday morning as several high-profile supporters rallied to his side.
※If an extraordinary party member like Ren Zhiqiang has been forbidden to speak out, our society has come to a very dangerous place,§ warned Wang Wei, director of the Chinese Museum of Finance, in a Weibo post sent out to his 1.5 million followers. Responding to Mr. Wang, prominent economist Xu Xiaonian vowed to quit using the service if Mr. Ren＊s account was not reinstated.
Also coming to Mr. Ren＊s defense was media mega-personality Hong Huang, who urged her more than five million followers to find and republish all of their favorite posts from Mr. Ren. ※As far as this system goes, I＊ve felt for a long time that it＊s already started to eat itself,§ she wrote. ※It automatically eliminates any people inside it that speak with a conscience.§
The pressure appeared to work. By 11:30 a.m., Mr. Ren was posting again. ※After laying down a few new rules, Sina has unblocked me,§ he wrote.
Sina did not immediately respond to request for comment about the circumstances surrounding Mr. Ren＊s account.
Meanwhile, the non-appearance of Wednesday night＊s storm provided residents with yet another reason to lop criticism at Beijing authorities.
The city＊s meteorological department had issued a ※blue§-level weather alert around noon on Wednesday, indicating two or more inches of rain over 12 hours. After being criticized for failing to give residents adequate warning ahead of Saturday＊s storm, the government sent warning text messages to 11.7 million people before 8 p.m., according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The warnings had the desired effect: Normally busy areas, including the famous Guijie 24-hour eating street, were nearly empty as residents left work early to take shelter inside their homes.
But it was all for naught, and the meteorological bureau finally rescinded its warning just before midnight.
※Don＊t create rumors, don＊t believe rumors, don＊t spread rumors,§ one user wrote on the bureau＊s Weibo page, chastising the government with one of it＊s own exhortations.
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Post By：2012/7/30 10:37:08
