【abc news】China releases quake death figures ahead of anniversary

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China releases quake death figures ahead of anniversary
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/07/2563856.htm?section=justin
Posted Thu May 7, 2009 5:06pm AEST

China says last year's massive Sichuan earthquake left5,335 students dead or missing, releasing its first official tally daysbefore the sensitive anniversary of the disaster.

The announcement came on Thursday (local time), as authorities inthe south-western province accused foreign reporters of incitingsurvivors of the May 12 disaster to demonstrate, amid reportsjournalists have been harassed, detained or beaten.

The 8.0-magnitude earthquake left nearly 87,000 people dead ormissing, injured 375,000 and left more than five million homeless,according to previous official estimates.

The head of the Sichuan education department, Tu Wentao, attributedthe year-long delay in releasing the tally of dead or missing studentsto the need to compile figures from various government agencies.

"These numbers were reached through legal methods. We have wideagreement on these numbers," Mr Tu told a press conference in theprovincial capital Chengdu, speaking as part of government efforts tomark the anniversary.

The quake also left another 546 students disabled, according to thedata, which did not include any deaths in surrounding provinces.

The number of children killed in the quake is highly sensitivebecause many bereaved parents say school buildings were shoddilyconstructed, and collapsed too easily when the quake struck, asadjacent structures stood firm.

State media has said previously that 14,000 schools suffered damagein the quake - half of them collapsed entirely - while early estimatesof the numbers of students and teachers killed were put at about 9,000.

The schools issue is perhaps the most sensitive aspect of thedisaster for the government, whose propaganda machine had otherwiseseized on the quake as an example of the nation overcoming adversityunder Communist Party leadership.

Angry parents of dead children staged a number of protests followingthe quake, alleging corruption resulted in school walls that were like"tofu".

Rights groups have heavily criticised Beijing for a subsequentclampdown on the subject, which has included sealing off school ruins,barring media coverage of the subject, and jailing activistsinvestigating the issue.

On Thursday, a Chinese official accused Western reporters of encouraging survivors to speak out against the government.

"A very few journalists are not going to the disaster area toreport, but are inciting the crowds, asking people to organise," vicehead of Sichuan's provincial propaganda department Hou Xiongfei toldreporters in Chengdu.

"We do not welcome these kinds of people and... will handle them inaccordance with the law," he added, without giving specific examples.

The Foreign Correspondents Club of China on Wednesday urgedreporters to be cautious in quake-hit areas, saying it had receivedreports of three cases in which foreign journalists were shoved,punched or otherwise harassed.

"Given the violence of the encounters and an apparent increasingfrequency of reports, it seems the situation is becoming more volatileand we advise extra caution when visiting these areas," the group saidin a statement.

The government has required foreign journalists to register with local authorities if they want to report on the anniversary.

Human Rights Watch released a statement Wednesday calling for Chinato open up about the quake, compensate victim's relatives, and allowparents to file lawsuits.

"Parents of student quake victims, who are trying to understand howand why their children died, deserve answers and compassion, notthreats and abuse," the group's Asia advocacy director SophieRichardson said in the statement.

"Persecuting quake victims and their relatives adds cruel insult to already grievous injury."

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