Spontaneous volunteering and loosened media reins could test the leadership
China's millennium-old philosophy of yin and yang says that for every advantage there is a disadvantage, for every good an evil, and so on.
For all the horrific loss the magnitude-8 earthquake brought on May 12, analysts say that in the aftermath they have seen remarkable social progress on the mainland in terms of the public's sense of social responsibility and their aspirations to participate in public affairs and improve governance.
With the decade-old free-market reforms existing alongside authoritarian rule, people have become more and more indifferent to public affairs and politics. But immediately after the earthquake, people from all walks of life across the nation acted spontaneously to offer help, donations and support to the rescue efforts.
Analysts said the outpouring of public support and donations had revealed not just the people's compassion but, more importantly, their sense of responsibility.
'Many Chinese opened their hearts and their purses to contribute to the relief effort, giving hope that a civil society may some day emerge in the People's Republic,' June Teufel Dreyer, a China expert at the University of Miami, said.
Jia Xijin , deputy director of the Institute of Non-Governmental Organisations at Tsinghua University's School of Public Policy and Administration, agreed.