Ruling Mandate

"Quake leaves China in race against time"
With thousands still trapped, the premier directed rescue efforts.
Philadelphia Inquirer, Wed. May 14, 2008The death toll in the nation's rugged southwest climbed to more than 12,000 people, and state media cited an official who said that an additional 9,400 might still be
By Tim Johnson
McClatchy Newspapers
BEIJING

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, megaphone in hand, personally directed efforts yesterday to cope with the most calamitous earthquake to hit China in three decades as soldiers poured into rubble-strewn Sichuan province to provide relief.

buried under debris.

Wen rushed to Sichuan province immediately after the earthquake, and spent most of the next 24 hours coordinating relief efforts.

"I think they were affected by Katrina," Moses said, referring to the bungled U.S. disaster-relief efforts in New Orleans after the 2005 hurricane. "They don't want to be on the wrong side on this."

China's ruling Communist Party has a mandate that depends on its ability to
deliver economic growth,
maintain social order, and
provide rapid help in emergencies.

The party was shaken this year by its failure to quickly respond to massive snowstorms and to severe unrest in Tibet and by a troubled global Olympic torch relay before the Beijing Games on Aug. 8-24.

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20080514_Quake_leaves_China_in_race_against_time.html