It is not the time for "Monday Morning Quarterbacking" yet.
The rescue, relief, recovery efforts demonstrated in Sichuan and China's southwest in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake are not entirely 100% efficient or show no mistakes and deficiencies. Far from it. But considering the circumstances, the work was a real feat and all Chinese have stepped up to the plate, inside China, across the Taiwan Straits, in Macau, HongKong and overseas among diasporic Chinese overseas.
And one thing is made loud and clear --- the efforts of all Chinese, from the top to the bottom, ordinary masses of laobaixing, 老百姓, have been very heartening in their solidifying and coming together'; 1.4 billion peoples in unity, together, putting aside their differences, and focused on their humanitarian efforts, in solidarity and empathy with their fellow countrymen, showed amazing synergy and deserve our kudos.
The events these past week demonstrated that nineteen years after June 4th, 1989, Tiananmen, the China that Westerners like to bash and demonize is no longer the China of today, at this time, at this juncture.
The difference is all Chinese, inside and globally, are all in agreement, working in concert, and in support for a better, improved, and stronger China.... economically, socially, politically, and culturally. Descendants of the Yellow Emperor, Yan Huang Zi Sun 炎黄子孙.... culturally and lingually bonded together, sharing an affinity beyond politics and ideology.... working harmoniously and in sync for a common cause altruistically to help fellow men.
That is an astonishing feat.
China is no longer the "sick man" of the world. And the world especially the WEST better take note. Consider what some of the netizens are blogging in blogosphere in praise of China's two most prominent "5th generation" leaders, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, and their efforts in mobilizing the Chinese peoples and harnessing the resources of the state in unison to respond to Sichuan:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/21/content_8219903.htm
Compare the US$ 60 billion the U.S. federal government allocated for Katrina hurricane relief in 2005, and grade the results and performance. The difference in performance level is wide.
Look to China's allocation of renminbi 70 billion (U.S. $ 10.14 billion) to rebuild the earthquake-damaged areas in China's southwest, and watch as the Chinese peoples and its government work their hearts, their brawns and their brains out to make a better future of their society.
Five years from now, you will marvel at the hugh difference.
Is there hope for China ? Absolutely. And amazingly, the fact that many of China's youths now realize that beyond material advances and milestones, China must chart its own way free of Western interloping and beyond the Europeanised vision of democracy.
Look for China and its peoples to chart its own path, by its own way, in their own pace. That resurgence is going to transform China in the near and long-term.
