Intimations of mortality

The 4 million inhabitants of Harbin city in China8217;s northeast Heilongjiang province had their water supply cut off for five days, following one of the country8217;s worst ever pollution spills into its waterways. On November 13, some 100 tonnes of the carcinogenic chemicals, benzene and nitrobenzene were discharged into the Songhua River, following a blast at a petrochemical plant in Jilin province.

The spill was kept a secret for more than a week, before being made public. During this time as the 80 km slick made its way towards Harbin, tens of thousands continued to use the river for drinking and washing. The people of Harbin were initially told that their water supply was cut off for maintenance works and only after several hours with no water was the real reason made public on November 22.

Beijing has now ordered a probe into the incident and made a rare public apology to Moscow, since the slick is currently heading towards the Russian border city of Khabarovsk. It is not clear how far the central authorities were aware of the extent of the problem before it was finally revealed. Jilin officials however, waited six days before telling their counterparts in neighbouring Heilongjiang about the spillage, ostensibly to 8220;avoid spreading panic8221;.

Provincial officials and managers of the petrochemical plant have now apologised, yet anger against the government amongst people in both provinces is reported to be rife. There is a potential for political fallout given the considerable amount of social unrest already in evidence in the last two years. According to police statistics, mass protests primarily against illegal land acquisitions and corruption increased to 74,000 in 2004, up from 10,000 in 1994.

The response to the Songhua River crisis however did show the strengths of the Chinese state in being able to commandeer enormous resources virtually instantaneously. Thousands of party members and soldiers were mobilised to dig wells, install a huge filtering system and truck-in clean water to residents. Despite the disruption to 4 million lives, no rioting was reported.

Given the success of this complex operation, it is likely that the government will be able to weather the storm without any immediate repercussions. What is clear however is that despite an announcement in September that the death tolls from natural disasters will no longer be classified as state secrets, China has a long way to go before understanding that telling the truth is usually the most effective response.

Bird flu

Avian influenza continues to spread its deadly wings over the Chinese mainland with reports of fresh outbreaks every other day. In total, China has reported 24 incidents of bird flu in nine different provinces since mid-October. Beijing has also confirmed its first three human cases of the virus, two of which were fatal.

The Chinese government is now officially describing the situation as 8220;very serious8221;. This admission comes after weeks of reassurances that the outbreaks were localised and under control.

Health experts in China are warning that the mainland could very well become the epicentre of a future pandemic. Given its vast size, massive population and collapsing health-care system, China is both uniquely susceptible to and ill-prepared for a major outbreak of influenza according to the World Health Organisation.

The bulk of China8217;s 1.3 billion people live in the countryside, usually in close proximity to animals. China has the second largest poultry industry in the world, comprising 14 billion birds, close to 70 per cent of which live in backyard farms and hence go unmonitored.

A further cause for worry, were the situation to explode into a pandemic, is the collapsing state of China8217;s public health care. As the mainland pursues market reforms, the health care system of the Maoist era, which promised citizens medical care from the cradle to the grave, has been dismantled. The government8217;s share in national health spending has plunged from close to 100 per cent in the heyday of the communist revolution to about 15 per cent today. Less than 10 per cent of China8217;s rural population most at risk from avian flu and 50 per cent of its urban residents have medical insurance.

According to an official 2003 national health survey, 64 per cent of people in cities and 75 per cent in the countryside, who required hospital treatment said they chose not to be treated in hospitals because of the cost. Given that China8217;s detection system for human cases of the flu depends almost exclusively on hospital information, the WHO points out that this is cause for great concern.

So far the virus remains hard for humans to catch and Beijing has denied what it calls 8220;rumours8221; that as many as 300 people may have in fact been infected. The WHO says that the Chinese authorities have learnt their lessons from the SARS epidemic in 2003, when a government cover-up of the extent of the disease was exposed.

The response to the outbreaks has been swift. More than 20 million birds have been culled this year and efforts are ongoing to vaccinate China8217;s entire poultry population. Measures, the implementation of which, are made easier given China8217;s authoritarian political structure.

Coal mine blast

Just hours after the water supplies were turned back on in Harbin city, the province of Heilongjiang was confronted with another disaster, this time a coal mine blast in Qitaihe town, that has left more than 145 dead. China8217;s mining industry is the world8217;s deadliest with around 20 mining-related deaths every day.

The town of Qitaihe itself has seen a series of fatal mining accidents. In May 2004, 12 people were killed in an explosion. Blasts also killed 17 in March and another nine in May this year.

Beijing has unveiled several safety initiatives in recent years including stricter fire standards and shorter working hours for miners. Authorities say they have shut down more than 12,000 coal mines this year itself for safety inspections.

However, as this latest accident reveals, mine safety has shown no sign of improvement. The involvement of local government officials in the coal mining industry, despite orders from the central government to cut ties, is a continuing problem.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has been extremely vocal this year, vowing to improve the lives of the millions who have been left behind by China8217;s economic boom. Implementing better environmental and safety regulations and ensuring greater transparency in government will be some major challenges to address if he is to deliver on his promises.

The inherent paternalism of the Chinese State that treats its citizens as children to be protected by bad news is in urgent need of remedy. The increasing economic and social freedoms that characterise contemporary Chinese society are at odds with the continuing culture of secrecy where people are kept in the dark regarding information that affects their health and safety. Mr Hu would do well to realise this.

The writer is our Beijing correspondent