这场导致约7万人死亡，18000人失踪的大地震考验了中国政府的应急能力。除了地震救援与灾后重建的工作，中国政府还要协调好来自民间团体的志愿救灾活动。在五年后的2013年的雅安地震中，政府担负起了抗震救灾主心骨的同时，也以一种更从容的态度欢迎并肯定非政府组织提供的救援帮助。
汶川地震十周年：中国政府如何对待来自于民间的援助？
译者：鲁城华&曾擎禹
校对：黄倩霞
编辑：高浦铭
A huge earthquake in China ten years ago was a turning point
十年前的汶川大地震是一个转折点
It helped to spur the development of civil society
推动了中国公民社会的发展
本文选自
The Economist
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LI HAIJUN considers himself lucky. His home was destroyed by a huge earthquake that hit the south-western province of Sichuan on May 12th 2008. But like most of his neighbours in the mountain village of Wolong, 16km (10 miles) from the epicentre, he was busy tending his crops. He and his family all survived and spent nearly a year living in a tent. The government paid much of the cost of building a new house close by. The 25,000 yuan ($3,925) he had to contribute was no small sum, but Mr Li, who is 46, says he has no complaints. The disaster is still a bitter memory, but life is back to normal.
李海军觉得自己算幸运的。2008年5月12日四川西南地区的一场大地震摧毁了他的房子。与距离震中16公里（10英里）的卧龙山村村民一样，他那时正忙着干农活。他和家人都在这场灾难中活了下来，此后住了近一年的帐篷。政府承担了在附近建造新房子的大部分费用，想入住新房的他仍需支付一小笔费用——25000元（￥3925），46岁的李海军对此也没有怨言。灾难仍然是痛苦的回忆，但生活已经恢复正常。
The earthquake, centred on Wenchuan county, killed about 70,000 people and left some 18,000 missing—the deadliest in the post-Mao era. It was not only a human tragedy, it was also a severe political test for the ruling Communist Party. In the age of the internet, the government’s response could be monitored nationwide in real time. Contrast that with the secrecy the Maoist system was able to impose on the Tangshan earthquake of 1976, in which around a quarter of a million people died. Its epicentre was a mere 150km from Tiananmen Square, yet it was years before the government even acknowledged the death toll. The Wenchuan earthquake occurred in a very different China—one with a large new middle class that was anxious to help. For a party unused to co-operation with civil society, this posed a challenge.
这场震中在汶川的大地震导致约7万人死亡，18000人失踪，是后毛时代最致命的一次灾难。这不仅是一场人类悲剧，对执政的中国共产党而言也是一场严峻的政治考验。在互联网时代，政府的反应可在全国范围内被实时监控。这与过去有所不同，毛派政府对1976年导致约25万人丧生的唐山大地震可以实施保密措施。唐山大地震的震中距离天安门广场仅150公里，政府却在数年后才确认大地震的死亡人数。汶川大地震发生的时候，中国已经焕然一新了，大批新兴中产阶级迫不及待想要伸出援手。对于不习惯与公民社会合作的政党而言，这是一个挑战。
Netizens quickly became aware that many of those killed were children, who were crushed in their schools. Parents and activists staged protests to vent their fury at officials for having allowed the construction of such “bean curd”buildings. The government responded by intimidating or detaining participants. (Radio Free Asia, a government-funded service in America, reported this month that campaigners in the town of Mianzhu had been put under surveillance or placed under house arrest in the lead-up to the tenth anniversary.)
网民很快意识到很多学生遇难，死于学校倒塌的建筑。愤怒的家长和社会活动分子举行抗议活动反对政府纵容“豆腐渣”工程。
But the government was more welcoming to those who merely tried to assist in the relief efforts. On their own initiative, NGOs and around 3m private citizens headed to Sichuan, where they distributed water, blankets and other supplies. It was, says Zhang Xuemei of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, “an important turning-point”for civil society in China.
但是对于单纯想要为救灾出一份力的人来说，政府显得更受欢迎。非政府组织（NGO）和约300万民众自发前往四川救援，负责分发水、毯子和其他物资。四川社会科学院的张学梅说，这是中国公民社会的“一个重要转折点”。
The government is less keen to hail it as such. It prefers to crow about the heroic response of the army and above all of the Communist Party. Officials can indeed claim considerable credit for getting the area back on its feet. Today in the city of Dujiangyan, on a site where hundreds of children died when their school, Xinjian Elementary, collapsed, there is a roast-duck restaurant and a panda-themed pedestrian shopping area. The rest of the block consists of elegant new buildings in grey brick adorned with decorative wood carvings.
