Chinese Premier chats with disaster-hit locals over radio
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Cerinchungcuo, a Tibetan teacher from northwest China's Qinghai Province, called in and talked on radio to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao -- expressing her worries about the soaring price of coal.
The Premier chatted with residents from three places hit by serious natural disasters in a live broadcast by China National Radio (CNR) on Sunday morning.
Cerinchungcuo was calling from a tent in a temporary housing site of Gyegu Town in Yushu, Qinghai Province, which was jolted by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake on April 14 leaving about 2,200 people dead.
Wen asked whether people in Yushu had any problems in their daily life.
"The coal is very expensive now. Last year a tonne of coal cost about 800 yuan (119 U.S. dollars) but this year it is more than 1,000 yuan," Cerinchungcuo said. "As it is very cold in Yushu and we depend on coal for heating, it will cost a family more than 8,000 yuan for the winter."
"I will ask the provincial government to increase financial assistance to Yushu and give local people money to offset the soaring price of daily necessities," Wen answered.
Cerinchungcuo, working at a local primary school, also told the Premier that they have plenty of food and clothes and the children had all returned to the school.
"We have made up for the classes delayed by the earthquake," she said.
The rehabilitation work in Yushu was suspended in late October because of freezing weather in the region which sits at an average altitude of 4,000 meters.
"The weather and high altitude in the mountainous region are the biggest challenge to rebuilding houses. But we will work hard to rebuild a safe and good home town for you," Wen said.
In the CNR live broadcast, Wen talked to audiences nationwide.
"Radio can not only let the people hear the voice of the Party and government immediately but also instantly deliver people's requests, expectations and opinions to the Party and government," said Wen.
CNR, China's only national radio network with a 700 million audience, celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding on Dec. 17.
Experts noted that the Communist Party of China has a long tradition of airing its voice over the radio to cover the country's vast territory and it is still one of the most useful means despite the emergence of the Internet.
Yin Hong, deputy dean of School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, told Xinhua that, in a vast country like China with great diversity, some places still do not have the access to Internet or television, and do not even receive newspapers.
"Radio plays a very important role in less developed regions where infrastructure lags behind," he said.
In recent years, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have chatted with citizens online.
The audience of Internet, more educated and urban, is different from that of radio, Yin said.
"Senior leaders have realized they need to reach different audiences through different media. Today, through radio, they want to communicate directly with people in remote and less developed regions," he said.
In the next five years, the country plans to make radio and TV more accessible to people, specifically looking to improve services for villages with 20 or fewer households.
The other two people Wen chatted over the radio were from Qingchuan County of southwest China's Sichuan Province and Zhouqu County of northwestern Gansu Province.
Wang Juncheng, party chief of Donghekou Village in Qingchuan, was the first to call in the radio show.
"Last September when you visited our village, I did not have the chance to talk with you. Today I am very happy and excited to get the chance," Wang told Wen.
Donghekou lost 400 out of its 1,100 villagers in the devastating earthquake on May 12, 2008.
In September, 2009, Wen dropped by the village in an inspection of the rehabilitation work in Sichuan.
"The construction of permanent houses in our village started after your visit. This Spring all the villagers have moved into new permanent houses," Wang said.
"I am happy to learn that they have good houses and plenty of food for the coming Spring Festival," Wen said. "Let's pray together for those who died in the earthquake and wish the surviving ones a better life."
"The time was too short. I had a lot of things to tell the Premier. I wanted him to know how we are rebuilding the village and starting a new life," Wang told Xinhua after the call-in.
At the neighboring Zhaoshu Village in Qingchuan, Shi Guangwu, a disabled local, sat together with about 20 villagers to listen to the radio show.
"What the Premier said in the show made me feel warm. He asked the questions what we cared about most," said Shi, having run a grocery for years.
The May 12 earthquake destroyed his house and shop but now he has moved into a new house with four rooms and reopened the shop.
He received the premier in August 2008 at the construction site of his new house.
"I remembered every word Premier Wen told me. I did work hard to restore my life as he told me to," he said.
The second one on the line was He Xinchao, village head of Yueyuan Village at Zhouqu, which was hit by a serious landslide on Aug. 8 which left about 1,250 people dead.
Wen recalled meeting He in a local hospital on the night of the accident, who lost nine family members with only a son surviving.
The Premier promised to urge the local government to take steps to address the difficulties there, such as lack of housing, the soaring price of necessities and high rent of local houses.
The provincial government had already promised to speed up the construction of low-rent housing, allow homeless residents to temporarily live in school buildings during the winter vacation and hand out subsidies and clothes, he said.
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