How to rebuild

The topic I am about to write about is a sensitive one - how does a government, and in this case China rebuild an area ravaged by natural disaster? I must emphasize that I will be writing about this topic from the perspective of the government, not from the perspective of any individual who may have suffered through the catastrophe.

The area that has been ravaged by the earthquake in central China in Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi province are earthquake-prone areas which will inevitably suffer through another one sometime down the road. This area has seismic activity due to the Indian plate colliding with the Eurasian plate. The result of this collision is the Tibetan plateau (and the Himalayan mountain range) of which this area is a part of. The next big earthquake is not a matter of if, but when (although that could be hundreds if not thousands of year away).

The areas that were especially affected are mountainous regions that were relatively heavily populated. It seems in China places that one might not think would be heavily populated actually are. This part of the country has not take part in the economic boom as extensively as the eastern coast of China and is relatively undeveloped due to the tough terrain. The part of the population who are in the prime working years have already migrated to the large cities for better prospects. There is a disproportionate amount of the elderly and children in these areas.

I think the Chinese government is in a tough position because a few of these towns has been completely destroyed. I am sure if you were to ask the citizens of these towns if they want their hometown to be rebuild, the answer would be yes. But as the government who is in charge of the best interest of the entire country as a whole it is difficult to put the kind of resources necessary to an area that is not very productive and prone to earthquakes. Perhaps it would be better to put the resources to relocate the people to safer areas.

Of course I think where and how to rebuild has to be on a case by case basis. This is a complex issue, and I am just suggesting that this is an option rather than the emotional, defiant reaction of rebuilding the area as good as before because an unwillingness to admit defeat.