Three days after the Wenchuan earthquake, roads to Wenchuan were still blocked. Luo Zhenting's parents were still trapped in Wenchuan; Luo had no way to contact them.
Luo, a Peking University student and also a Sichuan native, kept watching TV during these three days. According to Luo's friend, Luo was very tough and did not cry until Premier Wen Jiabao said: "Our priority is to save the people."
"I know there are still chances that my parents are alive. Now I really want to join the Communist Party," Luo said.
The sudden earthquake disrupted tens of thousands of people and the Chinese government's emergency disaster relief efforts quickly became the focus of the international media.
Tsinghua University conducted a survey on May 18. According to it, 97.9 percent of the public felt "very satisfied" with the Chinese government's emergency disaster relief efforts; 2.1 percent were "satisfied" and no one was dissatisfied. All together 3,500 questionnaires were handed out and 3,340 of them were filled out. The survey covered 26 provinces and cities including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
After the earthquake, government officials and NGOs immediately started disaster relief work, winning high praise from the international community.
According to the survey, most of the interviewees (98.7 percent) thought that the government had responded quickly to the disaster relief and won time to save the people in the earthquake while 0.03 percent deemed that the government should speed up efforts to minimize casualties.
Of the interviewees, 95.13 percent acknowledged information transparency regarding the earthquake but 4.97 percent thought that the government needed more improvement in this area.
99.67 percent of the interviewees were satisfied with the disaster relief efforts offered by the general public. They felt that the earthquake helped bring about national cohesion. 94.73 percent thought that the disaster relief efforts by companies and businesses were active and effective. Meanwhile, 98.69 percent were satisfied with the disaster relief efforts given by the people in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas Chinese.
The Japanese government has provided massive aid to combat the earthquake and sent professional rescue workers to Sichuan. 94.8 percent of the interviewees showed gratitude toward Japan's humanitarian aid and 80.59 percent said that their attitude towards Japan was becoming quite positive.
According to the survey, 90.6 percent of the interviewees thought "the earthquake won't prevent China from holding a successful Olympic Games." 8.2 percent deemed that "the earthquake could hardly affect the Olympics, but some adjustments should be made. In earthquake-hit Sichuan, for example, the torch relay must be readjusted to accommodate the disaster."
(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua, May 27, 2008)
