Posted on 08/13/2015 2:06:02 PM PDT by BenLurkin
As Chinese rescue workers and emergency services raced to respond to the deadly explosions that rocked the port city of Tianjin Wednesday, another group of Chinese officials, with a very different purpose, also sprang into action: the country's censors and security officials, intent on limiting coverage of the disaster by conventional media outlets and social media.
Authorities in Tianjin have been attempting to tightly control information about the disaster. Journalists and nonessential personnel were being kept six miles away from the scene of the blasts, the Los Angeles Times reported. In addition, a CNN correspondent reporting live from outside a hospital was seen being accosted by security officials live on air.
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In addition, local Chinese outlets reportedly had trouble being able to report on the incident. One journalist who took photographs inside a Tianjin hospital was threatened by security guards and told to delete the images, the Hong Kong Free Press reported. Local station Tianjin Television was reportedly airing a Korean soap opera 8 hours after the incident, as reporters waited for permission to start covering the story.
Media censorship of this kind is not new in China, particularly when it comes to coverage of national disasters. After a 2011 train crash that left 39 people dead and over 200 injured, propaganda directives issued by Chinese authorities leaked online, which showed that reporters were warned not to run investigative reports or commentary, but rather focus on "stories that are extremely moving, for example people donating blood and taxi drivers not accepting fares," the BBC reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...
NATURAL Disasters?
Natural?
Kaiju are natural... sorta.
And you barely heard a peep about the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake that killed well over a half a million.
Who was the EPA official in charge over there?
Specialized chemical defense troops, which are able to get access to hazardous materials, were dispatched to the scene, media reports say.
Sources told Reuters that the explosions have disrupted oil and chemical tanker arrivals and departures.
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State media said senior management of the company had been detained, and that President Xi Jinping demanded severe punishment for anyone found responsible for the explosions.
In a sign of sensitivity over the hazardous materials stored at the warehouse, state broadcaster CCTV went into a live broadcast of a news conference in Tianjin when the head of the municipality’s Environmental Protection Bureau chief, Wen Wurui, was speaking. He said there had been no apparent impact on air monitoring stations, but that water samples were still being examined.
However, when a reporter asked him whether the chemicals at the warehouse had been stored far enough away from residences in the area and Wen seemed at a loss for a response, the broadcaster suddenly cut away from the news conference, only to return to it again later."..."
As is customary during disasters, Chinese authorities tried to keep a tight control over information. Police kept journalists and bystanders away with a cordon about 1 or 2 kilometres from the site. On China’s popular microblogging platform of Weibo, some users complained that their posts about the blasts were deleted, and the number of searchable posts on the disaster fluctuated, in a sign that authorities were manipulating or placing limits on the number of posts. The website of the logistics company became inaccessible Thursday."
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A few of the recent 'incidents' in China:
At least 10 people have been killed and 40 others missing in two separate accidents at coal mines in China, state media reported on Wednesday. Ten people were killed in a gas outburst at a coal mine in southwest … via The Indian Express
The state-run Beijing News said on its website that between 300 and 400 people had been admitted to hospitals in the city, east of Beijing. It says the explosion shattered windows and knocked off doors of buildings in the area. The official China Daily ...via KOMO News
TAIPEI, A woman died Wednesday of injuries she sustained in a fiery dust explosion at a water park in New Taipei on June 27, bringing the death toll from the incident to 11, according to a local hospital. The woman …via The China Post
BEIJING — At least 68 people were killed Saturday morning when a blast tore through a metal products factory in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province, state-run news media reported. According to the national broadcaster CCTV, 187 others were injured in the ...via NYTimes · ByAndrew Jacobs
At least 31 people, mostly students, were injured today when a gas explosion ripped through a six storey building in a Chinese university. The explosion took place in a dormitory at China's northwest Lanzhou University in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province ...via Deccan Herald
The report said the blast, late on Monday evening, killed a suspect named as 33-year-old unemployed villager Xie Xingtang. The Xinhua report did not mention a reason for the attack. Photos circulating on Chinese microblog Sina Weibo showed police cordons ...via Reuters · By Michael Perry andAdam Jourdan
BEIJING (AP) — A warehouse containing fireworks exploded in northern China, killing 15 people, a local authority said Monday. The explosion Sunday morning happened in Ningjin county in Hebei province, which borders Beijing, and also left two other people ...via bigstory.ap.org
An April 6 explosion at a paraxylene plant in Zhangzhou, Fujian province, is the second safety incident at the highly controversial PX facility in China. Six people were injured in the blast, which, according to local media, started around 7 p.m. local ...via Plastics News
Today: China Officials Report Major Natural Disaster.
Tomorrow: China Officials Speculate Natural Disaster Was "Large Lightning Strike".
The Next Day: China Officials Report No Fatalities From Minor Lightning Strike.
The Next Day: China Officials Deny Any Disaster Occurred.
I’ll bet China’s dangerous materials handlers are just as good at their jobs as their assembly line workers.
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