No avoiding accountability for past mistake

AN OFFICIAL INSPECTION TEAM assigned to double check the death toll in Typhoon Damrey that hit the Xiuyan Manchu ethnic autonomous county of Anshan in Northeast China's Liaoning province in 2012, has confirmed that the number was purposely understated by the local officials. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Thursday:

Thanks to the media coverage and public attention in the past few days, the provincial government demanded a full inspection into the claim by a local resident that the true death toll in the typhoon had been covered up.

The inspection team has found that the typhoon killed some 27 residents, which means it should have been deemed a major natural disaster according to the Criminal Law and the National Emergency Plan for Natural Disaster Relief.