Daily commentary about China by TIME correspondents.

Quake Student Death Toll, Maybe Not

The Sichuan government is backtracking on an earlier announcement about the total number of students who died in the May earthquake. Previously the government had said that 19,065 students were killed. Now, as AP reports, a local official is clarifying that that number is the total number of dead who have been identified:

(BEIJING) — A Chinese official says 19,065 of the people who died in May's massive earthquake in Sichuan province have been identified.

Li Jiang from the Sichuan provincial propaganda office said Friday that an official translation at a news conference incorrectly stated that 19,065 schoolchildren had died in the disaster. The government still has not given a separate figure for the number of students killed.

I'm guessing it will be a while longer before we ever see that separate figure.

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    We wonder what the real facts are ?

    This is what Hu said about People's Daily. Where does "facts", "truth", and people's right to information fits into the scheme of things:

    60年来,人民日报坚持正确办报方向,积极宣传党的理论和路线方针政策,积极宣传中央的重大决策部署,及时传播国内外各领域的信息,讴歌真善美,鞭挞假恶丑,为我们党团结带领人民夺取革命、建设、改革的重大胜利作出了重要贡献。特别是改革开放以来,人民日报深入宣传中国特色社会主义理论体系,深入宣传改革开放和社会主义现代化建设的巨大成就,深入宣传广大干部群众团结奋进的先进事迹,高唱奋进凯歌,弘扬民族精神,为激励全党全国各族人民积极投身改革开放的伟大事业作出了积极贡献。今年以来,人民日报在宣传党的十七大精神,特别是在抗击低温雨雪冰冻灾害、维护西藏社会稳定、筹办北京奥运会、抗震救灾等重大报道中发挥了很好的舆论引导作用。中央对人民日报的工作是充分肯定的。

    If this is what CCP thinks the media have been doing and should be doing, what is the use of facts and truth.

    And, of course, CNN lied too. So all Chinese media are all right and doing their job as expected by the CCP marvelously.

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