Word: wens
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Chinese have grown accustomed to seeing television footage of their Premier, Wen Jiabao, at the site of natural disasters. Often described as the human face of the country's huge bureaucracy, Wen is well known for being sympathetic to the plight of ordinary citizens. But many were still surprised at the speed with which Wen reacted to the news that a huge earthquake had struck the country's southwestern province of Sichuan on May 12. Little more than 90 minutes after the 7.9 magnitude quake struck at 2:30 p.m., Wen was headed for the airport. By early evening...
Particularly unusual in a country where the image of top leaders is carefully maintained were surprisingly candid shots of Wen having to raise his voice to get attention, stumbling and almost losing his hard hat, even being ignored by distraught survivors...
...They were not shy at all about showing him in full crisis mode, much more unsanitized stuff than would normally be allowed," says Beijing-based scholar Russell Leigh Moses, who added that the scenes were clearly aimed at reassuring viewers that Wen and his fellow Communist Party leaders were making the utmost effort to bring relief to victims as rapidly as possible. "The government's legitimacy is very much dependent on its ability to show that it can care for and look after ordinary Chinese, and this case is one where they have clearly made a decision to make absolutely...
...Another person died when a water tower collapsed in Mianyang, Sichuan, the news agency said. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to tour sites of the destruction, and described the quake as a "disaster", while President Hu Jintao has urged "all-out" efforts to rescue victims...
Despite being the world’s largest consumers of rice, China has remained unusually quiet. Chinese Premier Wen Jia-Bao denied that rice shortages or price hikes will be a problem for Chinese consumers and a few weeks ago, revealed secret state reserves of rice in excess of 150 million tons to prove his point...