One of the biggest repercussions from the May 12 Chinese earthquake is that people are demanding more accountability from their government. Parents of the more than 5,000 school-age children who died in collapsed school buildings want above all to know why the schools were not earthquake-proof. Here's an example from a recent article in the Wall Street Journal:
"On Thursday, [parents] stood defiantly in the rain and shouted at Zhang Jinming, vice mayor of Deyang, the city that administers Hanwang. Many of the parents lost their children at Dongqi Middle School, where 178 students were killed and more than 50 are still missing. Mr. Zhang tried to calm the crowd, saying he would have the initial results of an investigation into the collapse by the end of the week. But the parents weren't appeased. "It was a dangerous building!" they cried. "We want the person responsible!"" (Wall Street Journal, 5/30/08)
It's the younger generation in China, though, that is taking advantage of its access to the Internet to push citizens and the media to ask more pointed questions and to receive some answers from their government. Apparently, there is a photograph of a Communist party leader kneeling before parents and asking forgiveness that Chinese citizens have emailed extensively. It has become a sign of the new attitude in public calls for more openness.
The scale of the devastation and suffering in China from recent natural disasters is beyond comprehension. But it may help to open up communication between government leaders and the people and create more transparency in government.
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It has always been difficult to know China from the outside, but with the Olympics in Beijing this summer and the nation's move toward a stronger economy with a bow toward capitalism, China has excited the interest of many people – some of whom are interested in trading its stock market. If you are one of them, you may like to know that here at Elliott Wave International, we have recently added a new financial service that covers Asian financial markets. With this new service, we try to bring you the kind of insights and analysis that will help you to make up your own mind about investing in Asian financial markets.
The June issue of The Asian Financial Forecast includes a chart of the Shanghai Composite Index that shows how the outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease – the problem that China was dealing with before the earthquake in Sichuan province – correlates with the recent wave 2 decline. Besides this interesting discussion, you will also find these topics:
1. A contrarian indicator that has correctly called the last five major bottoms in India's SENSEX.
2. What a possible divergence in Australia's and New Zealand's stock market may mean for both.
3. What recent movements in the Beirut Stock Exchange may mean for the conflict in Lebanon.
4. How Jordan's stock market is a barometer of contemporary Arab history--and where it's headed.
The markets covered by EWI's Asian Financial Forecast with labeled charts are:
- China’s Shanghai Composite
- Singapore’s Straights Times Index
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
- Japan’s Nikkei 225
- Australia’s All Ordinaries
- New Zealand’s All Ordinaries
- India's SENSEX
- A special section on Lebanon and Jordan's markets
Learn more about the markets and economies of these dynamic countries in The Asian Financial Forecast, which is available online now.
Please click here to order.