Yunnan's current drought is now said to be the worst for over 50 years. There hasn't been any rain here for 4-5 months now. Yunnan's plentiful hydro-electric dams usually export excess electricity to other Provinces, such as GuangDong, but recently we have started importing electricity from GuangDong as our rivers and reservoirs have dried up. The natural disaster is so bad that Premier Wen JiaBao even turned up the other day [see photo] to look concerned and promise, "The Government will ensure nobody dies from thirst". Thanks for that! Kunming hasn't been directly affected yet, but many villages are relying on water trucks or long daily walks to neighbouring villages, wells or underground springs. And the crops and livestock have suffered too, of course
Premier Wen is said to be the "cuddly face" of the TPTB (the powers that be) - wheeled out to any and all disasters to show the concern of the leadership. He was recently quizzed by journalists as part of the government's annual (yes, annual!) press conference. The questions were, of course, vetted and limited to "relevant" subjects. The answers ranged from the faintly comical, "Although I have no holiday or weekends off, I like to stroll or swim to keep myself full of energy" to the quizzical, "Even if I died nine times over I would have no regrets about my noble hopes" and the nonsensical, "China's development will not affect any other country" ...oh really? .... for better or for worse, I would imagine every country in the world is affected by China's development in some way. If only we could let Jeremy Paxman loose on him!
Premier Wen is said to be the "cuddly face" of the TPTB (the powers that be) - wheeled out to any and all disasters to show the concern of the leadership. He was recently quizzed by journalists as part of the government's annual (yes, annual!) press conference. The questions were, of course, vetted and limited to "relevant" subjects. The answers ranged from the faintly comical, "Although I have no holiday or weekends off, I like to stroll or swim to keep myself full of energy" to the quizzical, "Even if I died nine times over I would have no regrets about my noble hopes" and the nonsensical, "China's development will not affect any other country" ...oh really? .... for better or for worse, I would imagine every country in the world is affected by China's development in some way. If only we could let Jeremy Paxman loose on him!
