China has been accused of covering up failures in the 2008 earthquake

Parents of school children say their complaints are ignored and they are not allowed to grieve over disaster sites

An elderly Chinese woman cries as she arrives in Beichuan in preparation for the first anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008, in which 87,000 people were killed or missing and five million others were displaced. (Photo: AFP)

Posted: May 15, 2023 10:57 AM GMT

Updated: May 15, 2023 11:15 a.m. BST

The Chinese Communist regime has come under fire from survivors and parents of school children who died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake for highlighting the improvement in the lives of the victims and for focusing little on the underlying causes of building collapses.

The uproar erupted after the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, the Global Times, published a video marking the 15th anniversary of the earthquake on May 12, Radio Free Asia reported.

The video focused on improvements in the lives of the victims and the implementation of “disaster prevention”, which drew sharp criticism in Sichuan Province, where the disaster killed nearly 90,000 people.

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Among the dead were more than 5,300 children who were mostly in classrooms when the 7.9-magnitude quake hit. As many as 375,000 people were injured by falling debris and collapsing buildings.

The earthquake destroyed four-fifths of the buildings in the affected area.

Sang Jun, whose son died at Fuxin No. 2 Primary School in Mianzhou City, Sichuan Province, stated that the investigation into the cause of the school collapse is incomplete.

“They forgot about the victims and they still haven’t investigated [why it happened]Sang said.

The video showed the lives of amputees who survived the earthquake and managed to achieve success in life.

“Because so many people refused to give up, we had so much motivation and energy [to rebuild our lives]Radio Free Asia reported, “The voiceover came in the video.

Sang also noted that families were not even allowed to visit the site of the former school building that collapsed on May 12, 2008.

“There is no place where we are now allowed to grieve for them – we are not allowed to go to the scene of the accident [of the collapsed buildings]Sang said.

Hundreds of dams, including two major dams, were found to have been damaged with reports of villages and towns in the mountains being completely destroyed by earthquakes in 2008.

Losses were estimated at $86 billion.

Parents allege that the collapse of the school building was due to sub-standard construction work amid rampant corruption among officials and building contractors.

Many parents who called on the government to take action on this issue through official channels reported harassment and detention.

Zhou Xingrong, who has filed more than 100 complaints with the Beijing authorities on the matter, stated that she was detained by unknown men and threatened to shut her mouth.

Recalling her ordeal, Zhou said, “When we arrived in Beijing…a group of four or five burly men with Pekingese and Hebei accents grabbed us and forced us into a car, taking our backpacks…our mobile phones and our identification cards.” On his last trip in February.

“They wouldn’t let me talk and threatened me with duct tape,” she added, noting that she was “not allowed to leave the house” upon her return to her home in Dujiangyan.

Sang Joon and another father noted that no action was taken by any of the senior Chinese authorities despite promises of swift punishments for the perpetrators.

“After fifteen years and three prime ministers… none of them even mentioned the Sichuan earthquake, and none of them mentioned all along,” Sang said.

I’ve also been to Beijing [to complain] But they’re telling us to take it up again in our local area, so now we have to give up because trying to stand up for your rights is too hard.”

Sang and other parents said they had somewhat given up on their efforts to find the truth to avoid any government backlash on themselves and their surviving children.

“My other child is very good at reading, and it will affect his ability to find a job in the future if I am against it.” [the government]Sang said as well, adding that, [the government] Scores are always settled, until three generations later.”

“I would like to stand up for my rights, but I am afraid of the backlash,” Sang told Radio Free Asia.

Le Pew, a mother who lost a child in the earthquake, noted that the government’s restrictions on public mourning for earthquake victims are hindering the lockdown that family members need.

“I would feel better if I could sit with my kid for an hour or two in that place, especially after so many years of unsuccessful petitioning,” Lu said.

“If it weren’t for the Tofu Building, all these children would not have died unjustly,” Lu added.

Building tofu was a term widely used by the Chinese public in reference to the shoddy construction that was responsible for the catastrophic collapse of many school buildings in the affected areas.

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