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China cracks down on earthquake rumors Mark Magnier BEIJING -- Almost as soon as the initial aftershocks stopped reverberating last week, the rumors began. Some say that frogs, insects and other animals fled shortly before the earth shook. Others insist that water mysteriously drained from ponds, or that Beijing knew the massive earthquake would strike but chose not to publicize it with the Olympics around the corner. Patently false, perhaps, but enough to alarm the Chinese leadership. "Stop rumors to avoid social panic and stabilize order," said an earthquake report issued Wednesday by the government of hard-hit Mianyang. On the same day, Beijing announced that it had punished four people in northern China for spreading rumors on the Internet about the quake, without explaining what the punishment was. Rumors are an integral part of Chinese folk history, songs and poetry. Last year, authorities drained a reservoir in central Sichuan province to dispel rumors that a growling water beast lived there. In 2006 a rumor spread in Anhui province that the virus that causes AIDS was being injected into watermelons, devastating sales.
(Article continues below) Chinese emperors long sought to halt the spread across their far-flung empire, with the first recorded anti-hearsay campaign launched by King Li nearly 3,000 years ago, despite a proverb: "Trying to stop people's mouths is like trying to stop a flood." More enlightened rulers sent envoys out to collect rumors as barometers of underlying concerns. But many others, particularly toward the end of dynasties, initiated crackdowns during famines, floods and unrest. The recent crackdown on rumors involving the earthquake follows a similar campaign launched in late April in the wake of the Tibet uprising, efforts some say amount to trying to stamp out one of the most powerful communication forms in human history. Governments everywhere work hard to control the message. But this is especially important for a one-party state with limited democracy and a restive population, and fearful that instability could undermine its legitimacy. Since riots broke out in mid-March in the ethnic Tibetan areas, China has offered a single narrative: that the violence was sparked by a few extremists directed by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader; that Tibet has always been part of China; and that the government has brought enormous economic benefit to a backward population. With its grip secure on newspapers, television and the Internet, hearsay represents a major threat to the government's control. "If people start doubting the official line on particular events, what's to stop them from doubting all sorts of things?" said Joshua Rosenzweig with the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights group. "That's something the party wants to avoid."
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