EDITORIAL : THE GLOBAL TIMES, CHINA

                                    




Wenchuan part of multi-faceted China

May 12 is the third anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake that took away tens of thousands of lives and buried numerous towns in southwest China.

Thanks to the more than 885 billion yuan of quake-relief funds from the government and other channels, brand new schools, hospitals, apartment buildings and parks have risen from the ruins, making the devastated cities such as Wenchuan and Beichuan the envy of the nation.

We are proud of the speed and scale of our reconstruction, which is an extraordinary achievement by any standard that should make China proud. At the same time, China is mired in a succession of scandals and problems in other sectors.

Which one is the real China? All of them together. A nation of more than 1.3 billion people means blessings as well as challenges.

The earthquake affected 20 counties with more than 10 million residents, almost the population of a mid-sized European country. After the quake, 20 provinces or municipalities in the richer regions of the country were mobilized, each one to aid a devastated county by rebuilding the quake-hit area virtually overnight.

Only a big, strong country with a powerful government can achieve this.

The size of the country comes with other problems. The infrastructure of Wenchuan is suddenly ranked among the top in Sichuan Province as well as in the entire country. But there are a large number of areas in China that are still very poor and desperately need investment for development.

When we applaud the successful revival of Wenchuan, we have reasons to worry about the country's other problems.

This is the state of today's China. The country proudly races ahead at a thundering pace and, at the same time, it is also preoccupied with fixing problems here and there. There are bright flashes from time to time, but the country is not short of mistakes and distractions.

Some people become more confident and ambitious; others pessimistic, without hope. As for the outside world, they may be impressed at times and puzzled at other times. The arrest of artist Ai Weiwei, for example, puzzles many Westerners. But it is a real part of the multi-faceted China, which earned world-wide praise for its swift evacuation of citizens trapped in Libya.

We are happy to witness China's expressway network swell to more than 75,000 kilometers in the past few years. But excessive toll charges are irksome just when we begin to own private cars. Just when we on the threshold of purchasing new homes, the prices suddenly shoot up beyond reach.

What can we do? The answer is up to each individual. People who believe things can get better are usually happier. And, those who work hard and strive to go ahead usually are better placed to succeed. The point is to believe: that tomorrow will be better than today.