Bruce Gilley writes that the Sichuan earthquake will prove a bigger jolt to Chinese society and government than the Olympics:
A survey of 784 people in the quake zone conducted in August by Beijing-based Horizon Research Consultancy Group found that 98.8% were satisfied with the central government’s performance. Premier Wen Jiabao told a meeting on post-quake reconstruction in Sichuan in September the government had achieved a “major victory.”
Yet the price of that victory was to unleash forces of liberalization that will prove irreversible in coming years. For starters, the earthquake undermined support for local government in the affected areas, and intensified the campaign against corruption.
