Governmental information management during major emergencies in China: A paradox of control

Abstract

This article explores changes in emergency management in China, most notably the management of information during crises. We present five case studies: the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic, the 2005 Songhua water pollution crisis, the 2008 snow storms and the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. In the earlier cases, governmental organizations withheld information in an attempt to retain control over the disaster and how citizens responded to it. The control over information eroded citizens' trust in the government's ability to deal with the crisis. This led to behavior on the part of the citizens' that in some cases actually exacerbated the emergency. These experiences have led to dramatic changes in information disclosure during emergency management, changes that went directly against the dominant practices with the Chinese state apparatus.