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Letters and Blogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-05 07:52 Don't blame nature On July 31, four passengers died and 34 were injured in a railway derailment in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. After the accident, officials in the local railway bureau blamed natural disasters along the rail line for the derailment. This excuse can hardly be accepted by the public. Indeed, natural factors such as the pouring rain played an irreplaceable role in the accident. However, looking into the string of factors related to the derailment, we find that man-made factors cannot be totally ignored. From the very beginning of the railway construction, natural circumstances such as heavy rain and storm should be taken into consideration during the process of exploration, design and construction. In the process, officials should have realized and tackled any potential problem or hidden danger, rather than blaming natural disasters after the occurrence of tragedies. Moreover, irresponsibility and malfeasance, which should be thoroughly investigated, can be avoided in a clean, efficient and integrated railway system. A thorough and detailed investigation should be immediately carried out to ascertain subjective and objective responsibilities. And, the Ministry of Railways should be aware of the danger posed by natural disasters when constructing new lines and maintaining old ones, and make efforts to ensure the safety of transportation and passengers' lives. Xuan Huahua http://jiangauthor.blog.sohu.com Tonghua Steel report flawed On July 31, China Daily published an item about the murdering of Chen Guojun. The item said there are "witnesses" who reported that the executive shouted at the men who would ultimately kill him: "If you do not kill me today and let me live, I promise you will not even get a bowl of vegetable soup to drink". In some countries, a newspaper publishing such information, without citing verifiable sources, names, etc., could be sued in court for defamation, or at least made a laughing stock by the public for grave accusations against people not in a condition to immediately defend themselves. But let's concede that Chen really said that absurd sentence. Instead of spending a word in favor of the suspicion that he was a candidate to martyrdom, or a mentally ill person, China Daily added another comment, this time naming the commentator, who said: "As a general manager, he should take responsibility for his words". This kind of "journalism" is rated as the worst even in Western countries, known for their double standards and unprincipled methodologies. Claudio Cervini via e-mail (China Daily 08/05/2009 page8) |
