A Field Report From A Yushu Teacher
(Daqi) Poking Holes In The Nine Big Lies From An Alleged Teacher in Yushu. April 28, 2010.
The reason why I am writing this essay is because I had read a blog post forwarded to me by a fellow student. It was 11pm last night. By habit, I used my mobile phone to check out what is new and interesting at Renren before I go to bed. I saw this essay with this eye-catching title: <The truth that you don't know -- the sorrow of Yushu, Qinghai -- we were all deceived by the media -- the narrative of a Yushu teacher>. I was struck and I immediately went to the page to read the narrative written by a person who claimed to be a teacher in Yushu. He "cried out" to the netizens and "told" us the truth about Yushu that we don't know out. I read this essay with mixed feelings. By the time that I finished, I don't know how to describe my feelings! I was shocked! I can only say that I was shocked! How can there be someone so shameless as this!?1? How can he write such a pack of lies!?!?
The "author" of this essay spoke as a teacher in the Yushu quake zone. He spoke in the first person. He told about what he witnessed during the first two days (April 14 to April 16) of the earthquake. He spoke in extreme "anger" to "denounce" the rescue teams and the government organizations for their unwillingness to assist the victims. He "denounced" the media for deceiving the people of China under orders from the government. Here are some excerpts from that essay:
I am a teacher who lived through the Qinghai earthquake. I am writing this essay in response to my conscience. I want to tell you about some of the truths in this earthquake. The earthquake was not what you imagined. We never received any of the aid that you saw on television. You have all been deceived.
Everything here was witnessed by me personally. I don't have any photos to show, because my mobile phone quickly ran out of battery. I took three videos, but I am afraid to post them. I spoke on the videos and I am afraid that I can be identified.
During the April 14 earthquake, there were not many fallen buildings. The fallen buildings that you saw are mostly in the centre of town. Most of us live in earthen houses which collapsed immediately. It was terrible, as so many people got buried underneath the rubble. It was terrible. The number of dead was definitely more than the 2,000+ as reported by the media. I saw at least 3,000 dead myself. The government intentionally made the media hide the truth ...
My school collapsed completely with nothing left standing. Many students were buried inside. Nobody came to help. We used our bare hands to dig. After it got dark, a forklift finally showed up. A few more PLA soldiers came, but they did nothing other than stand and wait.
There was no food or drink as shown on television. They did not try to rescue people through the night ... on the next evening, I went into town to find medicine. I passed by a rubble area. I saw several people in "China Earthquake Rescue" uniforms chatting on the rubble. I heard people crying out from underneath the rubble. But these people did not move. When some reporters came by, they moved around a bit. After the reporters left, they went back to chatting.
The city centre was nothing like reported. There was no medicine. There was nothing. I had to to go back to my school. I fetched some medicine from the school infirmary to give to the injured. We managed to treat many people with our own medicine ... on the way, I kept making telephone calls to ask colleagues about the children who were buried in the rubble ... so many students have now left us forever.
A friend from Xining called to ask me about the situation. I said that we have nothing. He said that the television channels kept saying that the materials have been brought in. I said that they are lying to you. We have nothing here.
I went to the city sports stadium. There was a big field. It was the best location. But they won't let earthquake victims stay there. Police officers guarded the entrance. They said that earthquake experts were staying here. They had food and drink. We had nothing. We have no books. We had to fetch contaminated water from the river and drink it after purifying it. We always gave the water to the injured people first.
The streets were jammed. The police could not control things. When leaders came, the police chased the cars away and made way for the leaders.
It was so tragic ... I know that if I post this essay, someone is going to come after me. So as soon as I finished typing this, I went to a cybercafe with a friend to post this. I don't know how to post onto the Internet myself.
These were the excerpts that I took from the essay. If you are even slightly careful, you will have spotted the problems. So let me reveal these lies one by one:
Lie #1: The author said that he witnessed all this. However, he only took three videos but no photos. I think that everybody who has ever used a mobile phone camera must know that they should make a record when they encounter an emergency situation. Usually, the first reaction is to take a photo and not a video, because it is a lot easier to take the photo, keep storage, share with others or post it on the Internet. Why did this author choose to take videos instead of photos? Furthermore, the author did not dare to post the videos that he took because "I spoke on the video and I am afraid of being identified." I want to ask this author whether he really took those videos. Who takes videos with themselves on camera unless they are bored and want to entertain themselves? There had been an earthquake and it was total chaos out there. Did you have time to "entertain yourself"? As for "speaking on the video," do you think that you are a reporter who comments as he films? A reporter is usually filmed by a cameraperson. How can you do both jobs at the same time?
Lie #2: The author said that he estimated that at least 3,000 persons died as opposed to the 2,000 deaths claimed by the government. Therefore, he concluded that the government was "concealing the truth and misleading the masses." Let me not delve into whether this author was right or wrong with his estimate, because I don't know. But I do have a question. This essay was about events between April 14 and April 16. On April 16, the official death toll was 791 (and you can easily verify that on the Internet). Four days later on April 20, the official death toll went up past 2,000. Does this author have prophetic powers to know the number of deaths will go up to 2,000 four days later? Isn't this lie too poorly crafted?
Lie #3: The author said that his entire school had collapsed with nothing left standing. Then we read that this author went to the school infirmary to fetch medicine!?!? Is the school infirmary not part of the school? Or did he dig out the medicine from the collapsed school infirmary? The author also said that the majority of the students were buried in the rubble and could not be dug out. So how could he dig out the medicine? Besides, how big is this school? How could the school infirmary have so much medicine for so many injured persons?
Lie #4: The author said that he observed several persons wearing "China Earthquake Rescue" uniforms chatting on the of the rubble. "I heard people still crying out from underneath the rubble, but they did not move." I will let you decide whether this is possible. Which person is not made of human flesh? Do you think that the China Earthquake Rescue people can let their own brethren plead for help while chatting on the side? They participated in the Wenchuan earthquake and the Haiti earthquake relief efforts and received uniform praise. They are not like the Japanese rescue team which was unable to rescue a single Chinese person. They are Chinese, they are our own brethren!!! Could they be like that?? Could they be so cold-blooded? You can say that they just tried to look busy walking back and forth without doing anything. But how can you say that they were standing still and chatting among themselves?? Under those circumstances, even the worst cowards would have tried to rescue people. Who would be "chatting"?
Lie # 5: At first, the author said that his mobile phone quickly ran out of battery after "taking the videos." One day later, he was using the mobile phone "repeatedly checking the status of the school children." Everybody knows that the infrastructure of Yushu was largely destroyed after the earthquake. There was no electricity, water or communication. Electricity was not restored in Yushu until April 21. How did you recharge your mobile phone before April 16 after it ran out of battery on April 14? Don't tell me that you had dozens of spare (and charged) batteries. Or else you used a hand-wounded electricity generator?
Lie #6: The author claimed that the sports stadium was taken over by the "earthquake researchers" and nobody else was allowed to enter. I asked the author why the government was sending in "research experts" during the so-called "72 hours golden period to make rescue"? Everybody was trying to save more lives, the pilots were wishing that they could carry more materials in their planes and the soldiers were wishing that they had extra hands to dig. What were they researching?? Were they trying to study when earthquakes occur? Do you think that we still live 200 years ago when one needs to go into the field to study an earthquake?? They use laboratory calculations and satellite photos nowadays. Even if they conduct research, they would not be doing it during the race against time. At the Wenchuan earthquake, the initial monitoring was based mainly upon measuring instruments and laboratory operations, and the experts only showed up later. Even if experts were there, how many of them were there? Enough to fill a whole sports stadium?
Lie #7: The author said that the earthquake victims had no drinking water. Therefore they had to use dirty water. This is possible. During the first two days, many materials have not arrived yet (the roads were not opened yet and airdrops were was inadequate). But the author then made an astonishing claim: "We fetched dirty water from the river and drank it after we purified it." I want to ask the author just how dirty water became purified?? Did this occur by miracle because the Gods were moved?? Or does the water supply in Yushu violate natural physical laws after the earthquake?
Lie #8: The author said that the roads were completely jammed and the police couldn't do anything. But when the leaders showed up, the police "chased the cars away." I want to ask the author just where the police moved the cars to?? ...
Lie #9: The author played the role of victim: "I know that if I post this essay, someone is going to come after me. So as soon as I finished typing this, I went to a cybercafe with a friend to post this. I don't know how to post onto the Internet myself." Haha hahaha. Has this author ever been on the Internet?? Are you afraid of being found?? You need someone to help you post at a cybercafe?? Okay, let us assume that you were scared. But I want to ask that in post-quake Yushu, which cybercafe was still operating?? Can you tell me?? I want to learn about this most awesome cybercafe in China which can continue to provide service at a time when there was no electricity or telecommunication in the city. Even if there is a cybercafe that does not run on electricity in Yushu, how does the author have time to write this "touching" personal experience for the masses at a time when he spent his time "saving people" during those those two days.
Those are the major issues I had with this essay, which was full of flaws and lies. This is a 100% piece of mental masturbation. Worse yet, the essay kept using divisive terms of "us" versus "them" in order to divide the government from the masses. The essay kept insinuating that the government does not want to actively help because it is "retaliating" against the Tibetans for wanting "independence"!! The essay said: "There are riots everywhere in China. They are rioting in Lhasa. They are rioting in Xinjiang. They are rioting in Yunnan. They are rioting in Hainan. But when the really tough Kampa people are not rioting, how can you treat us this way?" So what is the true purpose of this author?
In reading the essay, I think that the author can only have two purposes. Either he is trying to be sensationalistic, or else he has ulterior motives. Essays which attack society, attack the government, attack the Party or expose social evils are popular! However, this author kept covering his tracks and hidling behind a shroud. We can therefore eliminate the first purpose, leaving us with only the second purpose: The author is not a real Chinese person. He is a hostile force that is exploiting a natural disaster to leverage the sympathy of the masses who don't know the truth in order to attack China!! He is using the Internet and the hot-bloodedness of young people to use a sensationalist idea that inflame ethnic relationships and attack trust in the government!!! My response here is ask the readers not to be misled by that essay and fall into the trap set by the Dalai Lama and the Xinjiang independence movement!