Foreign media's coverage of Yushu earthquake misleading

15:49, April 21, 2010

On April 18, Western media agencies published far more photos of the rescue efforts from Tibetan monks in the Yushu earthquake than that of rescue efforts from fire and rescue personnel. They did so because they have always sought to make an issue of the relations between the Han and Tibetan ethnic groups, which are very sensitive in their eyes, according to a Global Times report on April 19.

The New York Times claimed in an article titled "After Quake, Ethnic Tibetans Distrust China's Help" that some Tibetans complained about PLA soldiers' poor rescue work.

Such a report is suspected of stirring up trouble and was offensively conspicuous when juxtaposed with numerous sympathetic and humanitarian reports covering the disaster. In fact, local people were all very eager to rescue others and had no time to scramble for the credit.

Unlike the New York Times, U.S.-based Newsweek Magazine reported that reactions to the disaster from China's various regions were likely to be nothing but warmth and support to Tibetans. Despite the difficulties in transporting disaster relief materials to mountainous and remote areas, the rescue work has gone smoothly so far, and the rescue efficiency is surely to be recognized by Tibetans.

On April 17, the New York Times reported on the quality issue of primary school buildings in Jiege Town. They said that most of the local school buildings were in ruins, but local government buildings remained intact. This called to mind the criticism over the poor quality of school buildings after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

However, Global Times reporters learned in Jiege Town that the collapsed buildings were mostly stone and wood buildings and the intact buildings are mostly steel and concrete buildings. Whether the buildings collapsed or not depends on their structure rather than their uses. Scores of children in Jiegu Town have died and most of them lost their lives in their homes or on their way to school in the early morning when the earthquake took place.

By People's Daily Online/ Global Times