Weekend in China

The Washington Post gives us the news that the Chinese media is largely ignoring the Communist Party Central Committee's directive to limit further journalist entry into Sichuan. This openness is the kernal of good that can be found in this forest of sorrow, and contrasts with how China has dealt with previous disasters (like the 1976 quake in Tabei province).

The questioning of the party directive was largely consistent with how China's normally timid news media have reacted to Monday's massive earthquake. Journalists have covered the disaster with unprecedented openness and intensity, broadcasting nearly nonstop live television footage, quickly updating death tolls on the Internet and printing bold newspaper editorials calling for building industry and other reforms.

Despite this good news, nature's hand keeps dishing as lakes and rivers look to be on the verge of overflowing due to landslides. No place to hide and no rest for the weary.

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Disturbingly, everyone seems to have one cataracted eye on China's nuclear plants near the earthquake zone, observations unclear as to where those buildings stand, structurally speaking. Very "hmmm'ing" to say the least.

On the other hand, and undisturbingly (in a vaguely disturbing fashion), Wei Chao'an, China's vice minister for agriculture, assures us that there is plenty of food to go around despite the destruction of 75,000 acres of farmland. One would suspect though, that the problem in China, even worldwide (like in parts of Africa) is never so much whether there is food, but whether the food gets to where it should be, or gets there at the right price.

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Taking prudence seriously in light of past economic difficulties in the Asian region, China, Japan and South Korea, along with the members of A.S.E.A.N. (including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) moved forward on their regional safety fund, setting aside some $80 billion in reserves to cover future financial stresses.

The agreement was a step toward a regional equivalent to the International Monetary Fund. The 13 countries involved in the bilateral swap deals that were created in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis were trying to avoid dealing with the IMF, which required them to adopt harsh and unpopular economic policies in return for bailouts during the financial crisis.

(International Herald Tribune)

And in related matters of countries banding together to do it for themselves:

The central banks of Norway, Sweden and Denmark have joined forces in a stunning move to rescue Iceland, offering a credit line of €1.5bn (£1.2bn) to beat back speculators and shore up the battered krona

This latter action in Scandyland is what the Asian nations would be doing later (fighting speculators in some theoretical future disaster) if they were not being so proactive and doing what they are doing now. The title of the article in the Telegraph states, "Scandanavians Unite to End Iceland's Financial Chaos" and the assured nature of the headline rather defies the potential realities the article itself lays out.

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Oh, and did we mention that mobile phone usage in China has reached 574 million subscribers? Because it has.