China's premier is hero of quake rescue effort(Washington Post)

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By ANITA CHANG
The Associated Press
Saturday, May 17, 2008; 3:47 AM


BEIJING -- The popular hero of China's earthquake rescue effort isn't astrapping firefighter or a seasoned cop _ it's the country'sbespectacled premier who's been clambering over piles of rubble torally victims in the hardest-hit areas.

Premier Wen Jiabao swapped his normal dark suit for an all-weatherjacket and bullhorn, arriving in Sichuan province just hours after itwas rattled by the 7.9 magnitude temblor.

State media reported that he crouched amid the rubble of anelementary school and shouted to a trapped student: "This is GrandpaWen Jiabao, hang on child, we will rescue you!"

His apparently tireless efforts _ supervising orange-jacketed rescueworkers, visiting with bereaved parents and overwhelmed medics _ havewon wide praise from Chinese, who see him as the "people's premier."

"The central government hasn't forgotten about this place. We willrescue those who are injured. If the roads are blocked, we'll useairplanes to lift them out," he announced to weary survivors in theepicenter of Wenchuan, his voice strained after days of similar visitsbroadcast continuously on state television.

Unelected and authoritarian, the communist leadership still needs tocultivate popular support to make ruling a huge, highly mobile peopleeasier and so it searches for ways to strengthen bonds with ordinaryChinese. Leaders like Wen who personally spearhead disaster reliefefforts from the scene help renew the public's faith in the party.

"By focusing on the leaders and the action they're taking ... youdemonstrate that the party is taking action. It legitimizes the partyby doing that. It legitimizes the leadership," said David Bandurski, aresearcher at the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong.

The image building gets a strong boost from the Communist Party'scontrol over all media. Wen's declaration when he arrived at acollapsed school that the search for survivors would continue "as longas there's a glimmer of hope" has become the sound bite of thedisaster, replayed endlessly on state-run television.

On Friday _ four days after the quake _ China's top leader,President Hu Jintao arrived in Sichuan for a morale boosting visit thatclosely mirrored Wen's performance.
At a rescue center he kissed a three-and-a-half year old girl who'smother died in the quake, saying "Grandpa will be back to see youagain," the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

At a middle school in Beichuan where some 300 children and teachersare believed to be buried under rubble, Hu echoed Wen's exhortation:"As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we will use every possiblemeans to rescue them."

Meanwhile, Wen was sent back to Beijing _ a possible sign that Huwas concerned a third-ranking member of the State Council was upstaginghim.

Chinese leaders, most of them engineers by training, are usually shownon state television sitting motionless during meetings, dressed inidentical suits and sporting heavily combed jet black hair. Wen'sin-the-field performance during the earthquake is just the mostdramatic of his appearances at disaster scenes in recent years.

He has turned up at coal mine explosions, comforting relatives ofdead miners, and trying to calm throngs of Chinese waiting in railwaystations after storms this winter stopped trains for days. The displaysof sympathy have made the 66-year-old Wen the leadership's most popularfigure.

"The premier is not young anymore and he's been in the disaster areafor three days and three nights without sleep. He has the people in hisheart," said a 40-year-old accountant surnamed Liu, who was readingalong a flower bed in Beijing.

Jiang Shimin, a 72-year-old retiree, mentioned recent media reportsthat said Wen had fallen and hurt his arm while walking through adisaster zone. "However, Premier Wen refused medical care and pushedaway the medic. That's rare. I was so moved," he said.

Not everyone is enamored with Wen. Some Chinese criticized his firststiff appearance after the quake, reading a statement on a plane takinghim to the disaster zone. A small minority of posts said Wen's presenceat the scene attracted cameras but did little to help actual rescuework.

Still, images of the premier wearing a yellow hardhat to enter acollapsed building and stroking the cheeks of a hungry child havecaptivated the coverage.

A Guangzhou Daily news story headlined "Wen Jiabao: I Just Want the100,000 People out of Danger, That's an Order" drew nearly 35,000comments in the nine hours after the story was posted on the Internetportal sina.com.

One entry was a poem, which opened with the lines, "Please premier,we beg you; Please premier, get some rest." Another comment, identifiedas being from Zhaotong city in Yunnan province, read: "I can only say,with tears, that I really really love you."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051700567.html