‘They tried to protect Beijing, so they sacrificed Zhuozhou’
By Eryk Bagshaw and Daniel Ceng
Singapore: The Chinese government has been accused of deliberately flooding the northern city of Zhuozhou and other areas to save Beijing’s prized high-tech sector from record flooding in the past week.
The floods impacting an area that is home to 110 million people have trapped residents for days as authorities open flood zones in the country to protect urban areas near the capital.
Residents in Zhuozhou, China, are evacuated from the flood-hit city. Credit: David Zhang
Two years worth of rain fell in less than a week killing more than 30 people in northern China and forcing a million people to leave their homes. The floods have threatened food crops and fuelled growing public anger towards the government.
“The government tried to protect a community in Beijing, so they sacrificed the city of Zhuozhou,” said David Zhang, who graduated from university this year and has been photographing the devastation in Hebei province for the past week.
“The overwhelming frustration is towards the local government and Beijing. The flood was caused by the government’s attempt to save communities in Beijing and Xiongan because of their higher status.
“It’s where all those technology firms are located. It was not only for political considerations but also for economic considerations.”
A shelter for flood rescuers in Zhuozhou, China.Credit: David Zhang
Hebei’s Communist Party secretary Ni Yuefeng said last week that it was his top priority to stop floods from hitting Xiongan. The area south of Beijing has been touted by President Xi Jinping as China’s new technology hub.
But the decision to open seven of the province’s 13 designated flood areas to take the brunt of the heaviest rains seen in half a century has infuriated residents who believe authorities in Beijing have not done enough to help them.
“People have been trapped in villages for days before being brought to safety,” said Zhang.
“In the early days of the floods, the official propaganda only focused on how the devastation has been affecting people. But there were no rescue efforts from officials to come into town and save people.”
Local businesses have used tractors to help get residents to safety in Zhuozhou, Hebei province.Credit: David Zhang
The heavy rains from typhoon Doksuri moved further north over the weekend towards Jilin province. On Sunday, another 14 deaths were recorded in the city of Shulan.
Zhang said Chinese state media had focussed on the damage caused by the floods but overlooked the role of the government in helping victims, including inadequate warnings and a failure to provide emergency services with enough resources to get residents out of trouble. In some cases, earth-moving tractors have been forced to ferry residents away from floodwaters.
“[That’s] the norm in China when it comes to events happening that could bring negative impacts to the party in power,” he said. “There’s an overwhelming sense of indignation and frustration”.
Public anger has been fuelled by reports that funds earmarked for recovery have been siphoned off by local officials in neighbouring Henan province.
Zhuozhou has been flooded for the past week. Credit: David Zhang
An audit released by the Henan government in July revealed 10 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in funds targeted for reconstruction after the province was devastated by floods in 2021 had been misused by local officials. More than 300 people were killed in the floods that tore through the central region.
The South China Morning Post reported that in one case nine counties and a government-controlled enterprise were allocated a total of 405 million yuan, but they failed to use the funding for flood relief.
The Chinese government has censored any mention of the Henan report on social media. Last week the city of Zhuozhou asked for more rescue resources on the social media site Weibo. The appeals have since been deleted.
The rains have devastated farmlands around the Chinese capital. Almost 50,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed around Shangzhi. In Harbin, more than 162,000 people were evacuated, while more than 90,000 hectares of crops were damaged by floodwaters.
The fertile provinces, along with Liaoning, are responsible for one-fifth of the country’s grain output. They also dominate corn, rice and soybean production, triggering fears this year’s agricultural supplies could plummet as the country heads towards the end of the northern summer.
The floods have hit China’s most fertile regions. Credit: David Zhang
China’s Ministry of Agriculture last week said the areas were already “saturated”.
“[Typhoon Khanun] is huge in size, rich in water vapour, and the landing interval is short,” the ministry warned. “It may seriously affect agricultural production.”
The ministry urged farmers to strengthen agricultural production facilities, urgently harvest mature crops, and reduce disaster losses.
But authorities are also grappling with the longer-term threat to farming sustainability caused by climate change.
Residents are angry that Zhuozhou was flooded to save Beijing. Credit: David Zhang
Zhu Dingzhen, the former chief officer at China’s top meteorological service told China Daily on Monday the country was increasingly vulnerable to rising global temperatures.
“If the climate keeps changing at the current rate, losses from such disasters will be considerably higher than in previous decades, due to current population numbers and the scale of economic development,” he said.
“It is crucial for China to plan and upgrade its infrastructure to adapt to future changes, as the nation faces a wide range of natural disasters due to its diverse climate and geographical features.”
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