Via Scoop.it – Foreign Affairs
Over 30 people died in a collision of two “high speed rail” trains in China. The incident was very sensitive. It highlighted that the recent extension of the Chinese fast train network might’ve not taken into account the need for enhanced security procedures. The accident occurred after one of the trains lost power, apparently due to a lightning strike, and the second one rear ended it. The accident scenario raises several questions. Why didn’t the network sense the loss of power? Why wasn’t the information that the first train was disabled sent to the network managers via regular communication channels? It is also known that due to insufficient power allocation, many Chinese trains get stuck on tracks for hours at an end. The Chinese authorities decided to meet the PR challenge of the crash with an old communist propaganda style response. The propaganda department published a set of guidelines for covering the incident:
“The major theme for the Wenzhou bullet train case from now on will be known as ‘in the face of great tragedy, there’s great love’,” the department said, according to a copy of the directives posted on a web site called the “ministry of truth”, that regularly posts copies of government orders.
“Do not question, do not elaborate.”
Source MSNBC http://matei.org/url/chinacrashmuzzle
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